Twin Skeletons
by Evilkat23
Summary: 14-year-old Twins, Kyoto and Sicily Genesis live in the middle of nowhere Kansas. Things take a turn on their heads when they meet a young silver dragon by the name of 'Junior' who claims he's looking for his father. So together, the trio band together in the search for Junior's father.
1. Chapter 1

The loud screaming of the birds in the early morning made Kyoto 'Kyo' Genesis groan out loudly as she turned in her bed. She was hoping to maybe get some more sleep, but then the rooster decided to join in with the other birds. "Alright, alright, I'm up," She groaned once again. Rolling out of bed, Kyo grabbed her pillow and chucked it at her twin, Sicily. "Get up, before Pa beats us for not having breakfast ready."

Their father was honestly a nice man, he loves them, he tells them that every day. He just hasn't been the same since their mother died of cancer a while back. Their father was the only one understood them, the small town only a few miles away from their small farm. Nobody in the town really cared for them for their heritage, being half Japanese, on their mother's side, and half American, on their father's side. People tend to treat them like they were just a stereotype. If only Kyo had a dollar every time someone said "ching-chong" then she'd have enough to finally leave this stupid town.

"I don't wanna..." Sicily whined loudly.

"Get up!"

Kyo trudged to the bathroom and groaned as she looked at herself in the mirror. She and her twin were almost identical, they both had their mother's pale skin and slanted brown eyes, they had wavy hair, no doubt from their father, the only thing that made the two of them different and easy to tell apart was their hair. Whereas Sicily has brown honey-colored hair, Kyoto has her mother's inky black hair. Speaking of her hair...

Kyoto groaned softly as she grabbed her brush and started to comb her giant rat's nest. Once it was soft and silky smooth, she pulled it back into a tight ponytail.

"Are you done?" Sicily asked sleepily as she waltzed.

"Yeah, have at it," Kyoto moved to allow her sister to get ready. While her sister did that Kyoto went over to her dressed. Going to their shared wardrobe, she looked at their few amount of clothes the two of them had.

"I'm wearing your overalls!" Kyoto called loudly.

"Fine! I'm wearing your pants!"

"Have at it!"

Grabbing the overalls, Kyo slipped out of her nightgown and put on the overalls, stopping she put on a white shirt, and clipped the straps over her shoulders. When she walked over to put on her flat shoes, is when her sister walked out and started to get dressed as well. Within seconds both were ready to start their day. So they walked down the rickety steps and got started on their father's breakfast. Kyoto opened the fridge and rolled her eyes. "Great, we're going to have to town," Kyoto groaned.

"Oh boy, rednecks galore," Sicily joined in. They made their father breakfast, just in the nick of time. Their father came shambling in, either drunk, hungover, or both. Their father sniffed bitterly and sneered at the food before him.

"Scrambled eggs, again. Joy," He sarcastically drawled out as he started to hungrily eat the food before him. Kyo said nothing to him, as she herself was busy eating a small bit of goat cheese, Sicily was busy chewing on a bit of bread. "You two need to go out to the town today, we're running low on feed," he spoke as he wiped his face with his napkin. "And go get some ham, I could use a good ham for tonight. Oh, and whiskey-No!-Gin-Nono! Whiskey!"

"Do you want us to just get both, Dad?" Kyo asked softly as she clasped her hands together.

"That's why you're my smart little pumpkin patch."

Their father stood up and gently pinched Kyo's cheek, Kyo grimaced slightly as he then walked away. Without another word he walked to his room and shut the door. Kyo looked at Sicily who looked back at her.

"Do you have the money?" Sicily asked her softly.

"Y-Yeah, I guess I have a little..."

With that, the two fed the chickens, cows, and horses, they piled into their dad's old 1979 pickup truck. The truck was not pretty, its hood was rusted, in fact, the whole damn truck was rusted with a few bits of its old white paint job. The door squeaked opened as Kyo got herself into the driver's side while Sicily sat on the other side. Shutting the door, the still let out an irritating squeak, taking the keys out of the sun visor, she turned the ignition over, there was a loud _pop_ that sounded after the truck came to life. Breathing out heavily, she started to drive out and away from the farm.

"Music?" Sicily asked Kyo grinned ear from ear.

"Crank it!"

* * *

 _I'm going home, gonna load my shotgun-"_ Kyo sang loudly.

 _"-Wait by the door, and light a cigarette-"_ Sicily sang with her, the two now finishing each other's verses

 _"He wants a fight, well, now he's got one-"_

 _"-And he ain't see me crazy yet-"_

 _"-He slapped my face and shook me like a ragdoll!"_ Kyo happily slapped her knee as she felt the hot country air hit her face through the open window.

 _"Don't that sound like a real man?!"_

 _"I'm going to show him what a little girl is made of!"_

The two of them looked at one another before both screaming, " _Gunpowder and lead!"_

"Annnnd we're here," Kyo sighed deeply as she parked the truck at the general feed store. Parking the truck, she hopped out with her sister.

Now, their small town, with a name that Kyo could never remember because the _grand_ Pastor Larry changes almost once a month, wasn't big. At all. There was a grand total of three major building in this town. The shop for the feed and food, the small restaurant, and the grand prize of the town the church. There wasn't a home in sight, everyone who comes into town had to drive.

"Well, well, if it ain't the twinsies, out of feed again?" The storekeeper asked them as they walked in.

"Ya, know it, Jimmy!" Kyo called back to him as they walked over to the chicken feed section of the store. Going to their normal chicken feed, she stopped once she saw the price. "Urg..." She growled and stormed to Jimmy behind the counter. Jimmy must have expected her anger as he just stood there was a knowing look on his face and a shitty grin.

"Problem?" He asked with that grin never leaving his face.

"You raised the price of your feed?! Seriously?" Kyo asked in anger.

"Now, little missy, don't go throwing a hissy, I have a business I need to keep up with, and Pastor Larry told me that if I were to stay in business than raising the prices on my feed was the way to go," The shopkeeper sweated slightly as he gently rubbed his hands together.

Sicily came walking up beside them, the feed resting on her shoulders, "Let's just buy it, okay? There's nothing we can do about it,"

"E-Exactly! That'll be..." Jimmy paused as he rung them up. "Fifty-four dollars!"

"Unbelievable!" Kyo snarled as she placed the money on the counter. "Pastor Larry is such a-"

"Shhhh!" Sicily elbowed Kyo as the door opened,

It was Pastor Larry.

Pastor Larry was a tall man, taller than any other man in town. He also had a large beer gut that stuck out making him look pregnant. He was dressed in his robes, the two of them wondered if he ever took those pastor's robes off as he's always seen in them. Pastor Larry had fair pink skin, his face a blotchy red that always reminded Kyo of a mango for some reason. He looked down at them, his brown eyes boring right at the twins. His little rattail mustache twitching as he just continued to stare at them. His balding brown hair shiny and slick with oil giving him a greasy look.

"My, as I live and breath, the twins, it's been so long since I last saw you two here in our small town, aside from church every Sunday, I hardly get to see you, beautiful ladies." He cooed as he too felt the need to pinch Kyo's cheek.

"We're only here to buy some food and feed, Pastor..." Sicily softly and sacredly told him as she seemed to shy away from him.

"Some feed! Oh my, these prices are rather high, and I have a feeling you two can't afford that _and_ food!" He exclaimed Kyo rolled her eyes before sniffing deeply with unhappiness. "Tell you what? I'll buy the feed, and, I'll give you two-" He paused as he put a hand on both of their shoulders on and stood between the two of them. "-a little extra money and the three of us can go and eat at my little brother's restaurant? Hm? doesn't that sound nice?" He asked the two of them.

"I-" Kyo started to object, however; Sicily cut her off.

"We'd love that, Pastor," Sicily spoke calmly as she smiled up at Pastor Larry, Kyo could see that the smile was forced.

"Excellent! Jim, place that feed on my tab, ey? Boy?"

"Of course, Pastor."

"Oh, and load the feed up to their truck for me, as well. Come along, girls," With his hands still on both of their shoulders, he walked them out of the store. The restaurant was only a few paces away from the store. Pastor Larry did not let his grip off of the two as they walked. It made Kyo feel like she was being shown off like she was just a prize. Kyo made sure to show Sicily a dirty look, the last thing she wanted was the eat with Pastor Larry. The door above their head jiggled loudly signaling their entrance.

"Ah, welcome Pastor Larry! The usual spot?" A waitress, Pastor Larry's sister-in-law, Millith, answered as she hurried over to them.

"Yes, Millith."

The Pastor lead the two of them to a booth, where he still sat between them as they all squeezed into one side. Kyo honestly didn't realize it at first, but being squished next to Pastor Larry, she realized just how _awful_ he smelt.

"What can I get you guys to drink?"

"I could-" Sicily started, but the Pastor cut her off.

"Water for the two ladies, and I'll have a black coffee with a water, please," Pastor Larry cut her off.

"Okay, three glasses of water and a coffee, coming up," Millith walked off, didn't even leave a menu for them to look at.

"So girls, girls, tell me, what's new? Hm?" The pastor asked.

The two of them looked at each other before looking at the Pastor. Sicily clasped her hands on top of the table as she let out a soft sigh. "Everything is fine, Pastor," Sicily spoke for the two of them.

"Praying every night?"

"Of course," Kyo plainly swallowed as she averted her gaze, making sure to look at pictures on the walls or even outside the windows.

"Okay, three glasses of water, and a coffee..." Millith returned, she placed each cup in front of them and whipped her pen and paper. "What would you like to eat?"

"If I could just-" Kyo started, but once again the Pastor cut her off,

"Three omelets, no cheese, no vegetables, nothin' darlin'."

"Alrighty, coming right up, Pastor. Twins." Millith walked away once again, leaving the three of them alone in awkward silence. There was nobody else in the restaurant at the moment, just them. No ambient noises, just silence.

"C...Could we turn on the TV?" Sicily finally broke the silence with her question as she looked at the blank TV sitting high on the wall in the corner.

"Oh, TVs rot you'll soul is what those rotten things will do," The pastor sneered at the mere idea of it.

"Please?" Sicily batted her eyelashes at the pastor, and he let out a sigh of defeat.

"Fine, five minutes of TV time, and that's it. Millith!" Pastor Larry put his hand up in the air and wiggled his index finger to get Millith's attention.

"Yes, Pastor?" Millith came on by timidly.

"Turn the TV on, five minutes only."

"Yes, Pastor..."

As requested, the TV went on, the first thing on was some sort of documentary that seemed to talk about a kid-

 _"Joseph was a good boy... uh... he'd never just run off..."_ A woman named Colleen Mitchal spoke softly as she kept looking down at her hands. The imagine then changed to a picture of a young boy with brown curly hair and glasses standing outside of a school, this was followed by a change to a male narrator as well,

 _"Joseph Daine went missing from his small home over two years ago, nobody knows what happened or where he went, they only know that the driving factor was most likely the plane crash that took both of his parent's lives..."_

Kyo looked at Sicily, her sister was into it, big time. Her eyes wide as she watched clearly curious.

The picture changed to a lovely couple in a wedding photo that was clearly taken from the late eighties, the woman's hair _glorious_ perm showed the year well. The narrator changed again, this time a police officer,

 _"Now, I was one of the few officers to search around his home for clues... uh... I didn't find much, but I remember out, far away from his home was some sort of scorched earth and one shiny-"_

"Five minutes are up!" Millith yelled.

"AW!" Sicily whined loudly, "It was getting good!"

"Ms. Sicily, five minutes was our deal," Pastor Larry coolly told her as he gently unfolded his napkin to get to his utensils.

"Three plain omelets, right up," Millith placed the three omelets in front of them, Pastor Larry wasted no time digging in; whereas Kyo and Sicily took their time to eat their congealed scrambled egg.

"So, girls..." The pastor pushed his empty plate away, Kyo and Sicily only looked at the plate than at the Pastor, did he just swallow it whole? "You're turning fourteen this week, yes?" The pastor asked as he wiped his mouth.

"... Yessss..." Kyo drawled out her answer, yes, their birthday was coming up this coming Friday, but why did he want to know?

"Hm, interesting, very interesting... well girls, I must be off, Ms. Sicily, please let me out," Sicily scooted out of her seat allowing the pastor to leave, "I have many things to get ready..." With that, Pastor Larry left the two of them, causing them to look at each other.

"Okayyy..." Sicily sat next to Kyo, the door dinged as the pastor left, now there was only the two of them sitting there in the silent diner.

"...Hey, Millith, can you turn the TV back on? Please?" Kyo asked, knowing her sister wanted to see the rest of it.

"Only the pastor gets to watch the TV."

"Unfair!" Sicily huffed.

"Sorry, sweetheart, you know Pastor Larry's word is law."

"C'mon, we have to get dad's booze and ham anyway. I'm sure the officer just found a coin or something..." Kyo tugged on Sicily's sleeve, and she nodded,

"Yeah, probably..."

* * *

Sicily grunted as she placed their father's booze in the front seat. "One good thing came out of Pastor Larry buying our feed, we got the good stuff for dad."

"Don't you think it's kinda... odd that the Pastor told Jimmy to raise the price of feed, and then, y'know, he bought our feed because he knew we couldn't afford it?" Kyo asked her as she got into the driver's side, placing the ham down by her sister.

"... I don't know, maybe? I think maybe he was just being nice."

"Eh..." Putting the keys in the ignition, the familiar _pop_ sounded, and they were off, it'd be about twenty minutes till they get home, so, Kyo turned the radio station on to fill in the silence.

"Is that... A semi-truck?" Sicily asked after a few seconds, Kyo was looking where she was, it was a semi-truck going the opposite way as them.

"It must be truck day for the shop..." Kyo kept on driving, the dirt road she was on wasn't all that wide, a semi-truck like that could easily push her tiny truck off of the road. Looking to the side slightly, Kyo could see that she was on a hill, so going off of the road might not be a good idea, but as the two got closer and closer to one another Kyo realized, she didn't have a damn choice. It was either get smashed off of the road, or go off of the road herself. Turning off of the road, Kyo then realized, she underestimated the hill.

"Oh god, Kyo..." Sicily shifted in her seat and clutched onto her seatbelt. She had gone off the road, and applied the brake, hoping to just back up into road once the semi passed, however; she soon found that wasn't possible to just brake as the truck suddenly started to roll down the hill.

"Oh, lord! Hold on!" Kyo called out as her heart started to beat rapidly with fear, the truck went down and wouldn't stop. She pressed onto the brake, but Kyo realized that wasn't a great idea. The truck fishtailed and almost swerved due to the tires not moving, releasing the breaks, Kyo tried to bring the truck straight, but turning the wheel was almost as bad as applying the brakes as the truck just started to swerve again. Sicily started to scream loudly, not helping the situation at all. "Oh god! Stop!"

" _Tree!"_

At the bottom of the hell, was a goddamn tree, because, of course.

Thinking quickly, Kyo spun the wheel all the way to the left, causing the truck to become vertical, she could feel the truck careening, almost ready to flip over because of the speed it started to pick up while going down the hill. Still, Kyo applied the brake once again. The tires squealed, and her fear suddenly happened, as the truck flipped-

* * *

Kyo groaned deeply, her right arm and her head was hurting. Opening her eyes, she saw nothing but darkness above her. "Sicily?" She groggily asked, sitting up. Was her sister alright? She only remembered being in the truck before blacking out. Sitting up, she expected to be in the truck, maybe upside down, but she noticed that was not the case. "What...?"

There was no doubt about what she was seeing, she was in a cave. She could see the light of the outside just a few feet away from her, but... how did she get in here? Standing up, Kyo let out a loud hiss. Her left ankle was either sprained or broken she couldn't put any weight on it at all. So, hugging the cold stone wall Kyo limped pitifully towards the cave entrance. Once there, she just looked out.

She could see the barren Kansas fields for miles, with only one thing out of place. A rusted white truck flipped over by a tree just yards away. Seeing it from this angle made her eyes narrow for just a second before Kyo realized in a horrific matter that Sicily never answered.

"Sicily!" She screamed out loudly. Kyo could feel her voice straining horribly. Kyo was getting ready to limp down towards truck, however; it was like a voice from the heavens-

"I'm behind you..."

"Oh, thank god!" Turning, Kyo hugged Sicily tightly, Sicily hugged her back and the two just stood there hugging each other. "What happened?!"

"I don't know... how did we get from there-" Sicily pointed to the truck, "-to here?" she pointed inside the cave. "Also... is this _under_ the road?" Sicily asked as she reached up to touch the top of the cave.

"Notta-"

The two of them both yelled as a loud noise sounded through the whole cave, echoing, bouncing off the walls.

"Kyo..." Sicily wrapped her arms around Kyo's neck in fear. Kyo wrapped her arms around Sicily's waist. The both of them felt fear course through their veins as they held onto each other.

"... W-Whose there?!" Kyo demanded.

"...I... please don't be afraid, I don't want to hurt you. I only want to be your friend!" The voice that spoke honestly sounded like a little boy, but, Kyo didn't feel like she was talking to a little boy.

"Who are you?" Kyo asked feeling braver now.

"... uh... they call me 'Junior' though that's not my real name."

"Why is that, Junior?" Sicily this time questioned, her voice was soft, not with fear, but Kyo could tell that she was just curious. Also, falling for this 'little boy's' act.

"Well, I'm named after my dad!... It was my dad's ri-... friend... that started calling me 'Junior' and it stuck!"

"That's really cool... Junior, why did you take us out of the truck?" Sicily broke away from Kyo. She then bent down, like she was actually talking to a child. Kyo couldn't see that far in the cave and she didn't like the idea of her sister going too far into the darkness.

"... You were hurt... I saw the whole thing..."

"Sweetie, please, come into the light."

"Sicily-" Kyo quickly protested, but Sicily turned around,

"Shh!... Sweetie, it's not safe for a child to be in this cave alone."

There was a long silence before suddenly there was movement. First Kyo only saw a massive silver paw, with large black claws. Sicily backed up, now startled. Junior showed himself to the two of them. He was giant, about the size of a semi-truck, he had two massive wings folded on his back. His whole body was covered in shiny silver scales, say for the gray tiny horns on the top of his head. He had amber eyes that seemed to just gleam with curiosity. Along his back was blunt gray spines that went all the way down to his long tail. His scales just seem to glimmer in the light giving him an otherworldly feel almost.

"Holy..." Sicily gasped out loudly as she clutched onto Kyo's arm for dear life. Kyo ignored all of her pain, all of everything as she just gawked at the creature before her and her sister.

Junior shyly looked at the two of them before just awkwardly shrugging his giant shoulders,

"Am I... not what you expected?"


	2. Chapter 2

Kyoto's breath was caught in her throat as her mouth hung open in shock. She knew her eyes were wide, as Sicily looked at her, her own eyes just as wide in terror as they looked back at the dragon in front of them. There was no doubt, none whatsoever, that was a dragon in front of them. Sicily grabbed on to Kyo's arms as Kyo grabbed on to her sister's forearms tightly. They were both breathing rapidly with fear as they clutched on to each other for support. Junior, the giant dragon currently staring them down, tilted his head at them awkwardly.

Sicily opened her mouth, maybe to scream in fear, or to do something, but nothing came out but a scared squeak of fear.

"Please don't scream!" Junior demanded loudly.

Kyoto did just that. Letting out a loud shriek that echoed around the small cave they were residing in. Her screaming caused Sicily to let out an equally loud scream. The two both screamed until there was no more oxygen in their lungs. Junior cringed at the sound of the two of them screeching.

"Please-"

Kyoto took in a deep breath and started up her screaming again. Sicily started digging her fingernails into Kyoto's forearms deeply causing Kyoto to bleed from the scratches her sister was giving her. Once again, Kyoto ran out of oxygen she started feeling light-headed from the amount of screaming she just did in under twenty seconds. Stopping her screaming for just a second to catch her breath, the two of them watched as Junior just looked at them.

"Are you done?" Junior finally asked.

"I... what!? _What?!_ " Sicily demanded as she shook her head, and backed away sacredly.

"Please don't be scared! I don't want to hurt you." Junior spoke to them as he lowered his head so he was eye to eye with them. Kyo felt her teeth chatter with fear as she looked into this dragon's amber colored eyes.

"W... Why did you...?" Sicily tried to ask, but she couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence properly.

"I told you, I saw everything..." Junior repeated. Sicily looked at Kyoto, who looked back at her, slowly the two started to loosen up once they actually looked into Junior's eyes. Letting go of each other's arms, they looked at the dragon once again. "You guys were hurt... " He muttered softly to them.

It was at that moment, Kyoto felt her ankle start to throb once again, her adrenaline dying down making her remember that her ankle was hurting. Hissing out in pain she slowly got off of her ankle. Sicily helped Kyoto to the ground.

"Are you hurt?" Junior asked her softly.

"... My ankle..." She whispered softly to the dragon, she still hoped that she was dreaming, but, the pain in her ankle was telling her otherwise.

"Hold it out to me, I can heal it," Junior advised, Instantly Kyo drew her leg back away from the dragon. "Oh, please, I'm not going to bite it," Junior huffed out in annoyance at Kyo's action. Kyo looked at Sicily both of them having their doubts, still, against her better judgment Kyo brought her leg back out timidly.

Junior took in a deep breath and slowly breathed out blue flames on Kyo's ankle. Kyo cringed, expecting to feel her skin start to melt off from the flames, but to her amazement, it didn't feel all that hot; it felt warm, yes, but not hot. Then, just like that, her ankle felt better. "It might be a little sensitive," Junior told her as she slowly stood. Kyo put weight on her ankle, and she felt a small tingle of pain coming from her ankle, but it wasn't as bad as before.

"How?" Sicily asked softly in amazement.

"Dragon fire can heal," Junior answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kyo's eyes darted back up to the dragon, Junior now laying down on the cool floor of the cave.

"... Why are you here?" Kyo finally asked. She was, in fact, curious about this dragon. Why was he here? In the middle of Kansas, shouldn't dragons be off in the mountains, like in the stories?

"My dad and his riders went missing. It's been too long since I've heard from any of them. There is a whole search party on the way looking for them, I scouted ahead with Lola," Junior informed her as he lifted his head up and crossed his two front paws. Kyo got a good look at the claws on Junior. One swipe would be all it would take for him to destroy her.

"A search party? For a dragon?" Sicily questioned softly. "I'm sorry, but in this small town if you utter the word 'dragon' you'll find yourself shunned by the grand pastor himself."

"What's a grand pastor?" Junior asked her, changing the subject quickly. Kyo noticed the pure childlike curiosity this dragon had about him, it made him kinda cute.

"Oh, he's the leader of our church here in town, in fact, he's the leader of our town," Kyo huffed out softly. She then crossed her arms over her chest as she thought about Pastor Larry.

"A church? That is?" Junior looked at the two a bit more now. "Is that like a monastery?"

"..." Kyo looked at Sicily, they both just shrugged in unison with each other. "Yeah, sure," They both spoke at once.

"Back to the subject with your dad, how do you know he's missing?" Sicily brought up as she got a little closer to Junior. Junior seemed to have a frown on as he then idly pushed a rock around with his mighty paw.

"Lola, she keeps in contact with them. She normally scouts ahead of time and waits for them there, this time, dad never showed. After a week, she came to us with help. She knows he's somewhere in this area. I've been waiting for her, myself, but she never showed up. So, I guess in short-"

"-You're lost." Kyo finished his sentence with a half-hearted shrug. Junior gave a weak nod in response.

"Well, maybe we can help!" Sicily suddenly yelled out. Kyo practically whipped her head around to look at her sister. Was she out of her damn mind?! Junior perked up a little as he now stood once more,

"You can?" Junior asked in almost a whisper, Kyo could see him shuddering with excitement as he stood there happily.

"Yea-" Kyo grabbed Sicily by the ear and started to march out of the cave.

"A word!" She huffed at Sicily as she continued to drag Sicily towards the exit of the cave. Once she was sure and hopeful, they were out of earshot, she looked at Sicily. "Are you crazy? Helping a dragon?" Kyo whispered in a panic.

"He helped us, we should help him! It's the right thing to do!"

"Okay, clearly I have to repeat this... He... _is a dragon!_ Are you not getting that?"

"He's a child dragon, a child dragon that is lost in the middle nowhere Kansas!" Sicily huffed back. "You're always saying you want adventure, or something better than this town, well adventure is in that cave."

"I didn't mean... this is insanely dangerous, I mean you've heard Pastor Larry's speeches about how a dragon guards the gates of Hell-"

"-What's Hell?"

"BAH!" Both the twins took a startled step back as Junior looked at them from the entrance of the cave. For a rather large dragon, he sure knew how to be quiet. Kyo got ready to shoot the dragon down, but Sicily suddenly put her hand on Kyo's shoulder, causing Kyo to look back at her sister. "Dorothy lets get out of Kansas, and go to OZ..." Sicily softly spoke to her. Kyo let out a bitter tsk. Her sister was giving her the puppy dog eyes, and it worked.

"Okay... Junior... we will... do what we can to help you find your dad-"

Kyo didn't expect for the dragon to suddenly rush forward and nuzzle both of them. " _Thank you! Thank you!"_ Junior sobbed. Kyo almost got hit by one of Junior's giant tears. She watched in horror as the tear that hit the ground and scorched the earth below her.

So to say Kyo learned a lot in the span of one day was an understatement. She learned that:

Dragons are in fact real.

Children dragons are a thing

Dragon fire is not deadly, it actually heals.

And when a dragon cries it can, in fact, produce real tears, and those tears will _burn everything!_

After having Junior help flip the truck over and roll it back on to the deserted street, the twins quickly promised the dragon that they will be back later that night to help Junior. Thankfully, the truck started right back up with a familiar loud ' _pop'_ of the engine. With that Kyo drove down the road, Sicily was watching Junior leave back under the road out of the rearview mirror.

"So, I think we should look for this 'Lola' first," Sicily finally spoke up as she checked on the ham and their dad's booze. "It seems the most logical, seeing how she's the scout."

"Should we even be doing this?! I mean... If anybody in this small town found out about this-" Kyo started again, but Sicily cut her off.

"Nobody needs to know what we're doing."

"Yeah, but dad will get suspicious if we're leaving every day for no apparently no reason."

"You mean between his daily drunken naps? Dad probably didn't even know we were gone for this long, I bet."

There was a moment of silence between the two of them before Kyo finally just gave in. "Alright, if you think so..." With that, there was nothing more between the two of them as Kyo drove home. Once home, they gathered their materials and got to work like nothing happened. Sicily went inside to put away the groceries while Kyo grabbed the heavy bag of feed. Hoisting it on her shoulder, she walked over to the chicken coop. The chickens, being rather aggravated that their breakfast was so late, started to cheep and peep at her, some even going as far as to peck at her legs. "Stop that!" Kyo hissed as she resisted giving one of them a good kick. Putting the feed down she grabbed the feeding cup and started to throw the food onto the ground. Instantly the little monsters started to eat at the feed. Once they were occupied, she moved onto the horse stable.

The one horse, Kathrin, snorted at her bitterly as she stomped her hoof into the ground. "I know, I know I'm late, join the others," Kyo huffed as she walked into the shed. Kathrin followed her every step of the way, waiting impatiently for her food. Kyo grabbed a decent bit of hay and walked out. Kathrin tried to grab the hay out of Kyo's arms. "Stop!" Kyo snarled as she pushed Kathrin's nose away from her. Kathrin snorted at her once again. Throwing the hay into a barrel, Kyo watched as Kathrin started to tear into the hay. While the horse was busy, Kyo walked back into the shed and grabbed Kathrin's horse feed. Filling the horse's dish with feed. Kyo gave a huff and patted Kathrin's butt as she walked over to Kathrin's water barrel. The barrel was fine for now. Moving on, Kyo started to go towards Missy the cow but stopped when she saw Sicily already taking care of the cow. So, she moved on to her least favorite; feeding the pigs.

They didn't have a lot of pigs, only three, but they were the definition of mean. There was Jack- the alpha pig- Janice- who was expecting little piglets- and... the pig her dad decided to name after her, Kyoto, Kyoto was the meanest pig, and Kyo hated her the most. The only reason she was named Kyoto is because of the fact that she was fully black, unlike the other pigs that were normal and pink.

The moment Kyo stepped over towards them, they all squealed, clearly unhappy, like the rest of the damn animals, Kyoto huffed and at her and squared up. "Don't you dare!" Kyo snarled at the black pig. Kyoto must have understood because she let out a battle squeal and instantly started for Kyo's legs, trying to ram her. Kyo was quick and sidestepped just as Kyoto rushed past her. "Just you wait till we get the okay from daddy to turn you into bacon!"

None of the pigs were old enough or fat enough to be slaughtered just yet, but Kyo was waiting for that glorious day. Kyoto turned and snorted, Kyo went to the troth and started to fill it with all sorts of gruel and food. Jack and Janice started to eat, and Kyo waited for Kyoto to show up with them. She looked around for the black pig, wondering just where in the world it went to. She soon found out when a pain suddenly erupted from her left calf. She couldn't stop her scream of pain as she turned and Kyoto the kick in the face that damn pig deserved. Kyoto squealed in equal pain. This caused Jack to suddenly rear up.

"Don't you- Gah!" Sure enough, Jack stopped eating and now attempted to ram at Kyo's legs. Kyo, despite the pain in her leg, took off running. Jack was pretty fast for being a pig, as he almost at her knees. He probably would have rammed her if Sicily hadn't of came running out of Missy's stall with something Jack absolutely loved; one of Kathrin's carrots.

"Jackson!" Sicily cooed, instantly the pig left Kyo be and happily waddled towards Sicily. He took the carrot and trudged back off to his troth. "You shouldn't have kicked Kyoto," Sicily chuckled when she saw Kyo rub her bruised leg. Thankfully, Kyoto didn't break the skin, still, that was going to leave a nasty bruise.

"She bit me!" Kyo huffed bitterly as she yelled at her sister. "How come you never feed those damn pigs, they like you better anyway,"

"Because Missy and Josiah need more work than just feeding them?" Sicily simply shrugged in response. Josiah was their goat, he wasn't as mean as the pigs, in fact, he was rather chill for a goat. That doesn't mean he hadn't attempted to ram them on the occasion.

"Let's just check the damn traps..." Kyo grumbled as she gave her leg a good rub. Now, normally farms will do everything in their power to kill the rats and other vermin that dare to trespass on their lands. Not them, Sicily was rather sensitive when it came to small animals, so they got the non-killable traps, and by the end of the day, they'd go about a mile or two up the road and free the animals away from their farm. There was a grand total of four small cages and one big one. Kyo checked on the first small cage by Kathrin's stable. Nothing today. She went to the next one by Josiah, still nothing. Third one by the pigs, who thankfully left her be, nope; nothing, and finally the last small one inside of the horse's feed shed. Nope.

" _Kyo!"_ Hearing her sister's fanatic scream, Kyo went running towards the large trap that was where the chicken's feed was. She figured maybe they caught a possum or skunk. Sicily had the trap in her hands before turning to face Kyo.

"Look, it must be someone's pet..." She cooed sadly. Kyo peered into the trap. Yep, that was a rat alright, but the rat was wearing an...aviator's suit?! It was complete with a hat, goggles, and scarf. Kyo couldn't help but chuckle at how fat this rat was.

"Little fatty couldn't stay out of our feed," Kyo chuckled softly once more.

"Oi! Who are you calling fat!" Sicily and Kyo just both looked up at each other, that British voice did not leave their mouths, so they just looked back down at the rat. The rat was now trying standing up on two legs, showing that she had little leather boots on as well. "Yeah! You! Just who are you calling fat!" The rat ordered as she (it was clearly a she-rat) pointed at Kyo. For the second time, that day, Kyo and Sicily both let out loud shrieks. Sicily dropped the cage while Kyo backed away from it like it was a bomb of some sort. " _Hey!"_ The rat screamed back at being dropped like that. "Are you trying to kill me!?"

"Oh my lord! What else is going to happen today!?" Kyo shrieked so loudly she could feel her vocal cords stretch out, "first the dragon now this!"

"Dragon?" The rat huffed softly but went ignored as Sicily was now moving her hands in a frantic matter. She was clearly failing at trying not to freak out.

"The rat talks, the rat talks! Oh god! A dragon was one thing, but a talking rat!"

" _Dragon!?"_ The rat screamed out now stomping up in down in the cage. "You two saw a dragon?" She asked finally.

"... Yes... talking rat we did..." Kyo then leaned into Sicily's ear and whispered softly, "When did our lives become a Disney cartoon?"

"Was he small or big?! I've been looking for a dragon myself," Her whisker's twitched impatiently as she looked between the two of them, her arms now crossed in a bitter matter. Kyo and Sicily both looked at each, then back at the rat.

"Are you... Lola?" Sicily asked slowly as she picked the cage back up from the ground.

"Yes, I am! Lola Greytail! The best aviator rat around!" Lola puffed her chest out proudly.

"Oh my god..." Kyo breathed out.

* * *

After sneaking Lola upstairs, past their snoozing father, Kyo, and Sicily both let her out of the trap on top of Sicily's bed. "Okay, explain, what you were doing in our trap?" Kyo ordered as she gave Lola a good poke in the stomach.

"This is a sign..." Sicily spoke from behind Kyo.

"It's not a sign; just coincidence."

"Oh, C'mon Kyo, first Junior saves us, and then we find Lola on our farm, you can't tell me this isn't a sign that this was our destiny!" Sicily clasped her hands together happily as she grinned ear from ear. Kyo only rolled her eyes and turned back to Lola.

"Well?" Kyo questioned finally.

Lola crossed her arms and scowled before answering, "I was waiting for Junior, I was a few days ahead of him. Around yesterday, I ran out of food. After flying around I found your farm. I was so hungry that when I saw that bowl of peanut butter I didn't think. It was stupid of me, yes."

"Very stupid! If that was a killing trap- I don't even want to think of it!" Sicily gasped at how careless Lola was.

"Girls!?" Came their father's yell from downstairs. They could hear him make his way up, instantly, Kyo picked up Lola, and just tossed the poor rat into the closet. Thankfully she landed on a pile of unfolded clean clothes. As soon as they both got the closet door shut, their dad came into the room. Both of them leaned against the closet door and gave their father a smile.

"Hi, daddy..." Sicily breathed out softly.

"You were late feeding the animals, what happened?" He ordered as he looked between the two of them, his eyes glazed over as he was still on the drunk side.

"We accidentally drove off of the road on the way back from the town. We had to push the truck back up the hill it took us forever, but we did it," Kyo semi-lied to her dad. He looked between the two of them, sizing them up, and seeing if it were the truth or not. Finally, he seemed just a tad more relaxed but wasn't satisfied.

"-And why did you go off the road?"

"Semi-truck, it was truck day for the store. The truck wasn't going to go off the road, so we did," Sicily added.

"Urg, that damn truck. Ruining this good town with his filth, I tell you! If it weren't for the fact that we need a few things that were out of town then we wouldn't have to deal with that damn devil!" He snarled out angrily.

"Uh, Daddy, we got your booze. It's downstairs on the kitchen counter," Sicily suddenly closed the closet door that tried to open by itself.

"Uh, oh right, right!" With that he walked out, shutting the door behind him. Once he was gone it had felt like a weight as lifted from their shoulders for the moment. Sicily opened the closet and allowed Lola to come back out.

Lola took in a deep breath and scrambled back up to the bed. Once there she shook her tiny body. "Well, he seemed lovely... So, you guys met Junior?"

After that the two of them caught Lola up with what really happened, them meeting Junior, Junior healing Kyo, and that the truck did, in fact, flip because they drove off-road. Once they finished, Lola only shook her head softly. "That Junior... no offense to either of you, but he shouldn't have shown himself. He could have easily ruined the dragon's secret by doing that," Lola huffed in annoyance.

"Well, whether you like it or not, Ms. Lola, we're involved," Kyo put it plainly to the rat. Lola gave out a bit of a huff as she tapped her foot on the ground in thought.

"I guess... we could use some outside help, maybe somebody who knows the area better than I do. Ha!" Lola laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. Sicily looked at Kyo before going back to Lola. The rat then looked at them, fully serious about the situation. "Okay, look, I need to talk to Junior myself, I'll leave and come back with my map, we can come with a game plan from there," With that Lola scurried up to the window. Sicily leaned down and picked the rat up by her middle. "If you think I'm getting caught by him, you have another thing coming, I'll just leave through the window, thank you very much," With that, Kyo opened the window for Lola, both of them watched as she managed to scurry down to safety. Once she was gone, they both just looked at one another. Their lives just go a whole lot more interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Kyoto honestly wondered if Lola ditched them. Three days went by without them hearing from the little rat, and she was starting to wonder. Nothing happened amongst those three days. They woke up, did work on the farm, and that was it. Sicily was sitting on her bed, putting on Kyo's black flat shoes. Kyo was changing into a pair of blue jeans, and a white shirt. The two of them silent. The early morning was streaming through the window, all was rather silent even the birds stayed silent for once this morning. Kyo paused as she was trying to put the buttons on she paused at her chest with a frown.

"Is everything alright?" Sicily asked with a yawn. A bit of her wavy brown hair got into her mouth causing her to spit rapidly till she finally found it, and pulled it out. "Blah…" She shuttered.

"Yeah, everything is fine," Kyo shrugged it off as she continued to button up her shirt. Now in Cowgirl boots, blue jeans, and a fresh shirt. Kyo felt somewhat better; even though soon her clothes would be dirty again. Her sister was in Kyo's flats, and overalls; a clean blue shirt underneath her overalls. Both of them felt clean and happy, but there was just the fact that Lola hasn't come back that bugged them both. Sitting next to Sicily on her bed, Kyo huffed out.

"I know…" Sicily frowned in response as the two sat in silence for a few seconds. Finally, Kyo slapped her sister's knee before getting up.

"We better get to work, dad wants the rest of the ham for breakfast," Kyo quietly told Sicily before heading down the stairs. Every stair creaked under both of them as they hurriedly rushed down the steps. Getting to the kitchen; both of them started working on breakfast. Kyo cracked the eggs into the pan while Sicily was frying up the ham on the other burner. Scrambling the eggs, Kyo huffed to herself angry over the whole situation.

"... Maybe she had a reason?" Sicily spoke up as she turned to Kyo.

"Still! Just up and ditch us? It's not the right thing to do. Sinner!" Kyo snapped as she was now scrambling the eggs with such force and anger that the eggs were starting to splash out of the pan a bit.

"Can rats be sinners?" Sicily thought for a moment before flipping the ham in the pan.

"Well, she can be! She can talk and walk. Plus she's sentient." Kyo pointed out plainly as she finished the eggs and plated them. Sicily just gave a sigh of response before plating the ham. Once set on the table for their father, they got to work on their own breakfast, buttered toast. Both of them silently ate their toast, Kyo thinking of all they had to do for the day. Eating the last bit of her toast, Kyo was ready to get started when suddenly-

"There you two are!"

"Lola!" Both jumped at the rat that came out of their pantry. Lola let out a huff as she jumped down to the ground. Quickly, Kyo grabbed her. "Not in here, you crazy rat-"

"Girls! Is breakfast ready?" Their father sleepily yawned as he started to exit from his room. Kyo and Sicily made quick frantic movements debating on what to do, knowing if they got caught holding a rat of all things it'd be the end for them. Finally, Kyo settled on rushing upstairs to their bedroom while Sicily addressed their father.

"Daddy, good morning! We just finished making your breakfast…"

Kyo shut the bedroom door. Her heart was racing a million miles-per-hour as she took in several deep breaths. "You need to work on that timing of yours…" She breathed out as she put her hand on her chest.

"Sorry, I needed to talk to you guys. Junior is wondering if you're still willing to help because we need all the help we can get right now," Lola asked impatiently as she jumped onto Sicily's bed. Lola gave a bitter huff before getting down on all fours and shaking her little body to and fro like a dog that just got wet.

"We said we'd be willing to help three days ago!" Kyo snapped at Lola in response. Crossing her arms over her chest, Kyo lightly opened the door and peeked outside. She just needed to make sure her father wasn't coming up the stairs yet. Once it was clear; she turned back to Lola. "Whatever you want us to do, we'll do it, just tell us."

"Can you meet Junior tonight?"

"Sure, under the road?" Kyo asked Lola in a soft whisper as she still kept a lookout for her father.

"Yeah, by the time the moon is out," Lola responded to Kyo. It seemed like the little rat was ready to take off, but Kyo was quick to suddenly grab Lola by her tail and pull her back before she could run.

"By the time the moon is out? As in… nighttime?" Kyo questioned her, surely this rat couldn't be serious. They couldn't stay up all day and all night!

"Well, yeah! Junior can only fly at night," Scoffed Lola as she pushed Kyo's fingers away from her tail in a huff. Kyo looked down at the rat for a few seconds; unsure of what to say in response to that. Till finally Kyo just sighed out and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Flying? No, no, these two feet stay on the ground," Kyo gave a soft chuckle in response to it all. "Only God can do something so mighty."

"I fly." Lola put it as simply as possible. "I have an airplane."

"Of course you do…"

"Kyoto!"

Kyo tensed up greatly as her father yelled out to her. Grabbing Lola, she put the rat on the windowsill. "We'll be there! We'll also discuss this flying thing later. Go!" Kyo opened the window allowing Lola to make her escape. Seconds later she could hear her father stomping up the steps, and opened the door.

"What are you doing?" He demanded as he glared down at her. Kyo felt herself back up and looked down at the ground.

"I spilled some food on my clothes, I came up to change," She quickly lied to him as she felt a chill run down her spine. Her father lifted her chin up so she was forced to look into his eyes.

"Get to work. Don't make me get my belt I don't care how old you are…" He threatened with a deep growl; before suddenly snatching his finger away from her chin. Giving her a glare; he proceeded to walk out of her room. Once he was gone, Kyo put her hand to her chest and let out a low breath. She had to get her heart to stop racing before she finally walked downstairs where Sicily was waiting.

"I tried to hold him off," Sicily softly explained as she gently rubbed Kyo's arm. "Sorry." She finished.

"It's okay, c'mon let's go and feed the chickens," Kyo urged her sister outside. Once outside the first thing to hit her was a bit of a nip in the air. Kyo wished she would have bundled up tighter, but she needed to get to work.

"There's a nip in the air… it's not good for the crops never is," Sicily muttered as they walked to the chicken coop. Kyo rubbed her hands together as they quickly started to get cold. Together the two of them laid feed out to the hungry chickens and roosters. For a while, all was quiet as they did their daily chores. Nothing really bothered them today, even Kyoto, the pig, was rather quiet today. Still, they finished all they finished all the feedings by noon. The farther in the day it went the colder it was becoming. By the end, she was shivering. Still, they got it done.

Sicily was sitting on the ground petting Josiah's snout. The goat was lazily munching on some alfalfa.

"So, what did Lola want?" Sicily asked as Kyo joined her on the dirty muddy ground.

"Junior wants to meet us tonight; by the time the moon rises that is," Kyo explained with a groan as she rested her knees against her chest.

"Really? Alright then… can we sneak out around eight? That sounds fine," Sicily stretched both her legs out.

"You're okay with this? I mean if dad catches us-"

"I doubt he will,"

Kyo pursed her lips to the side but didn't respond back to her. Stretching out as well; Kyo then slowly stood up and dusted her hind-side off. Josiah gave a soft 'bah' in response to her getting up beside him, but still, he continued to eat. Kyo lightly patted Josiah's flank before turning to her sister. Together they both just nodded as the chilly breeze passed them. 8 o'clock was going to be a long wait, but during that wait, they had to think of a plan. Because sneaking out of the old creaky home wasn't going to be an easy feat.

* * *

The night sky slowly took over; once the pinkish hues of the sunset were completely gone they put their plan into action. Kyo opened the window to their room and peeked outside. The chilly wind seemed to pick up great causing the two of them to shiver a bit. The most they had were thin jackets, but it was better than nothing so they both put the jackets on. "Wait," Sicily spoke softly stopping Kyo from making the first move out the window. Kyo quickly saw what she was seeing. There was a car coming up the driveway. The car stopped briefly before the headlights shut off and a man emerged.

"Is that Pastor Larry?" Kyo asked softly as she recognized the figure walking up towards their home.

"What is he doing here?" her sister questioned for a moment they watched as the pastor strolled up to the door and started to knock loudly. The two of them waited for a few heartbeats until finally their father opened the door, and let the Pastor in.

"C'mon, we're going to be late," Sicily muttered as she started to go out the window, but Kyo pulled her back. There was no way they could ignore this now.

"Aren't you curious about Pastor Larry being here?" She asked her sister.

"Well, yeah, but Junior is waiting for us," That's all Sicily responded as she smiled before finally jumping out of the window. They did live on the second story, and this was insanely dangerous, but Sicily knew what she was doing as she leaped and made sure to land on the fresh haypile just below their window. Kyo only frowned in response to this, but she jumped nonetheless. She felt weightless for just a moment as she fell. The fall didn't last long as she landed in the pile of hay with ease. Popping out just beside her sister; the two of them looked at one another. Both of them had straw sticking out of the clothes and hair. Feeling insanely itchy now, Kyo started to get the straw and hay out of her clothes and hair. However, it was rather short-lived as Sicily suddenly pushed her back down into the hay. "Wha-"

"Sh," Sicily ordered. Together the two of them peaked up from their positions hoping that they weren't caught. A light streamed from the now open front door. They both could hear Pastor Larry still talking to their father.

"-I just hope you think about what I said," Pastor Larry whistled before walking down the front steps. Kyo felt a piece of hay tickle the inside of her nose making it twitch as she felt a sneeze coming on. 'Hold it, hold it…' she thought to herself desperately as she squeezed her eyes shut. The light faded as their father shut the front door, and finally, Pastor Larry got into his car. Once he was in his car; Kyo couldn't hold it back anymore. Opening her mouth, she let out a loud sneeze. Which was, thankfully, muffled by the Pastor's car starting up right at that moment. They waited for the car to back away, and leave the driveway before popping up from the haystack.

"Odd…" Kyo sniffled loudly.

"C'mon! We're gonna be late!" Sicily griped as she grabbed Kyo's arm, and dragged her sister down the road. They couldn't drive because the 'pop' of the truck would give them away; so they had to walk. Kyo tightened the thin jack around her shoulders as another chilly wind went right past them. Kyo looked at her sister. Sicily looked downright excited. She had a grin from ear to ear while they walked. Kyo just couldn't figure it out; they were helping a dragon and a talking rat. So, they walked and walked in silence. It wasn't until the moon was high in the sky did they finally make it to the cave.

Sicily walked in first. "Junior? Lola?" She questioned softly as finally, Kyo joined her.

"You came!" Came Junior's voice first. The ground shook at the dragon came rushing at them. Kyo braced herself as Junior finally stopped just inches from them.

"It's about time!" Came an impatient voice from atop Junior. Lola poked her head up from behind Junior's tiny horns.

"Sorry, we had to walk," Sicily filled the rat in as she pets Junior's neck softly. "Isn't that right, Kyo?" She turned to Kyo. Kyo just gave a nod before approaching the two finally.

"It doesn't matter; You're here now. That's all that matters," Junior spoke up for the two of them. Lola only huffed in response.

"Doesn't matter? Firedrake, Sorrel, and Ben are still missing! And you want to say this doesn't matter?"

"Whoa, whoa. Firedrake is your father, I take it, but Ben and Sorrel? Those seem like regular names," Kyo pointed out, were there actual humans missing?

"Sorrel is a brownie, Ben is my father's rider," Junior filled her in.

"Okay… when you say 'brownie' I'm assuming you don't mean the treat?" Sicily spoke up this time around. Kyo was thinking the exact same thing in all honesty.

"Brownies are companions to dragons. They eat mushrooms and sing the dragons to sleep," Junior told them both happily. "I don't have a brownie yet, it has to be equal. We have to choose each other in order for a companionship to grow-"

"Okay, enough!" Lola yelled. Causing both of the twins to jump at the harshness of her voice. She then jumped got off of Junior's head, and down to the ground below. "You can tell them all about brownies, and other magical creatures later Junior. We are wasting moonlight here."

"Right, sorry." Junior backed down shamefully as he kept his eyes downcast, like a child in trouble. Well, he is a child in trouble.

"Now-" Lola paused as she scurried into the cave for a few seconds before coming back with a small folded up piece of paper in her hands. Much to both of the twin's surprise, she started to unfold it showing that it was much bigger than anybody had anticipated. Lola placed it on a ground; Next to a small unlit fireplace. "-Junior, please…" the rat gestured towards the fireplace. The twins watched as Junior bent down, and puffed out a small bit of blue fire from his mouth. The fireplace lit up well enough for Lola to show them the map. Intrigued; both of them walked forward and got down on their knees so they could see the map more clearly. It was a map of Kansas, more specifically, their area.

"Now, this is what I know," Lola pointed towards the east of the map. "The Greenblooms, Ben's family, are searching in this area for them." She circled around the area; where a small red circle was already placed. "If they can't find them in that area then they will move on to here." Lola followed a red marker trail where another circle was placed just southeast. "We are in charge of this whole area." Lola showed them the biggest circle around the north where they were now. There was even a little X showing the cave they were in at the moment.

"Lola… this has to be over five-hundred miles of the area we have to search. Look, we even go past two other towns," Sicily spoke up as she pointed towards the two towns.

"There are other towns?" Kyo questioned now getting closer to the map. She had no clue, but indeed, there were two other towns around them, only twenty-five miles apart.

"Yes, but we have something to our advantage that the Greenblooms don't have. A dragon." Lola pointed to Junior. Junior was now beaming with pride. Kyo felt her heart rate quicken, so they were going to ride Junior? That… seemed really dangerous.

"Okay, so what are we doing first?" Sicily asked quickly with a happy clap of her hands. "Going to the towns? Check for clues?" Kyo watched her for a few seconds with a curious look; did she think this was like that 'missing person's' show they watched a couple of days back? Or was she just excited about doing something other than farm work for a change?

"No, no, we'll save those for last. We're going to search here-" Lola pointed to a smaller red circle that looked was only a few miles out. "-and here for the night." She then pointed to another circle just a mile or two away from the previous circle. Kyo watched as Sicily gave a nod in response; all while Kyo just sat there. This was insane, and yet her sister was just so willing to go along with it all. Junior stuck his big snout in their way causing Lola to push him back. Sicily jumped to her feet ready to take off, but there was a nagging question on Kyo's mind.

"Okay, wait. It seems you have everything under wraps. So, why do you need us?" She asked Lola, though it was Junior who answered.

"More eyes, the more there are the better chances we have of finding my dad."

"We're putting a lot of trust in you two. A lot." Lola chimed in as she started to fold the map up. Kyo really didn't know how to feel about that. Then again; it seemed she could hardly think about anything, but the oncoming flight. She watched as Lola ran deeper into the cave, and started to push a toy plane towards the edge of the cave. Kyo and Sicily both exchanged looks as they moved; allowing Lola to push her plane. "I'll be flying beside you three-"

"Whoa, whoa! I mentioned it this morning, Lola. I stay on the ground," Kyo finally spoke up as fear started to grip her. The idea of falling to her death did not seem like a fun one.

"Kyo, I'm sure it'll be fine-" Sicily started. She honestly sounded rather annoyed that Kyo wasn't willing to jump on a strange creature's back, and just take off into the sky.

"No-No. Not fine-"

"If It makes you feel better; I can fly about as well as my father at this point. I may be only five, but my flying is impeccable!" Junior tried to comfort her.

"Nope! I can walk; it's only a mile," Kyo put her foot down. Flying? They were insane if they think she was willing to fly on the back of a dragon. Nope. She was keeping her feet on the ground like God had intended.

"Are you insane? Walking will take all night. This is literally a five-minute flight," Lola pointed out to her like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"I'm not that bad of a flyer, Kyo," Junior spoke up now as he suddenly brought his face close to hers. She felt bad in all honesty as she could see the hurt in his amber eyes. She huddled a bit against the wall as she started feeling nervous.

"It's not you…" She finally admitted softly as she rubbed her arms against the chilly weather. She couldn't even look Junior in the eye anymore. Sicily walked over towards her and put a hand on her shoulder softly.

"It'll be alright."

"I…" Kyo struggled to find the right words towards how she felt. Flying on a dragon? That didn't sound safe at all. It didn't help that the idea of falling off of said dragon, filled her with fear to her core. She felt a tad defensive as she now huddled more away from them.

"Look; I'll be with you every step of the way. Don't be afraid, you know together the both of us can overcome anything! Even silly fears!" Sicily grinned at her as she lightly patted Kyo's shoulder. Kyo looked at her sister for a few seconds. The both of them just looked at each other before finally, Kyo slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"Okay."

After that. Everyone walked out of the cave. Junior got down lower on the ground so the twins could hop up onto his back. Kyo walked up to the dragon and paused briefly. Sicily lightly tapped her on the shoulder before walking over towards Junior and jumping up onto his back. Kyo watched as her sister shifted on Junior's back a bit before turning to Kyo. "You comin'?" Sicily asked her with a soft smile. Kyo swallowed a bit of a lump in her throat before forcing her feet to move.

Kyo felt her heart just thud painfully as she felt her whole body turn cold and numb. Swallowing the lump down once again, Kyo shakily put her hands down on Junior's back. Breathing out; it took all of her courage to jump up onto Junior's back in front of Sicily. The reason she chose to sit in front of her sister was that if she fell; at least her sister had a high chance of saving her. Taking a deep breath; she suddenly felt warm for the first time all day. It was Junior. His entire body was warm which made her warm up. Sicily put her hands around Kyo's waist; for a moment Kyo felt comfortable, and her anxiety seemed to shimmer down just enough for her relax… that was until Junior unfolded his wings.

Kyo felt her eyes go wide as she looked at the massive size of Junior's wings. Because he always kept his wings folded she never got to see just how large they truly were until now. Clearly, this was something Junior had to grow into.

"Okay! Are you two ready?" Junior asked loudly.

"Uh-" Kyo hummed with nervousness, but she couldn't get the words she wanted out fast enough because Sicily was the one to speak up.

"Yes! Let's get this started!" She practically cheered loudly.

"Uhhh… oh lord!" Kyo screamed out as suddenly Junior flapped his wings, and within seconds they were in the air. All she heard was the loud air rushing past her as she nearly went flying back by Junior's sudden forceful takeoff. Kyo was honestly surprised her hair was still in a ponytail by the time they got leveled in the sky. Kyo knew she shouldn't have done it, but she looked down. She couldn't control her scream this time around. Everything was so small on the ground now show her just how high up they were. She was in mid-scream when suddenly she felt something clamp over her mouth.

"Hush, I want to see the sights!" Sicily told Kyo harshly. Kyo couldn't see her sister, but she was sure that she was grinning. Kyo still continued to scream in fear as she looked down horrified.

'I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die!' Kyo's mind screamed at her so loud that she couldn't focus on anything else. Her legs were shaking against Junior's scales. Junior flapped his wings; this caused Kyo to squeeze her eyes tight as every fiber of her shaking in fright. She screamed through her sister's hand. Finally, she decided to just keep her eyes screwed shut. She didn't want to see the ground, and she wasn't going to.

"How are you two holding up?" Came Lola's shout from beside her. Kyo shook her head she wasn't going to open her eyes. She wasn't!

"This great!" Sicily yelled over the harsh winds to Lola. Kyo just kept shaking her head. She wasn't going to open her eyes. Nope.

"Well, we're almost to the first cave! Just hang on tight!" Lola told them. Kyo kept her eyes tight as her hands and legs continued to shake in fear. That was when Junior started to slowly go down; Kyo put her hands over her eyes.

"What's happening?" She asked after Sicily finally let go of her mouth.

"Looks like Junior is landing!"

"Oh, thank the lord!" Kyo whimpered out. Keeping her eyes screwed shut; Kyo could feel Junior move lower and lower towards the ground until suddenly-

Whump!

In one quick move, Junior landed on the ground. This caused Kyo to scream out as she tensed her entire body up with fear. Keeping her eyes shut; she whimpered, trying so hard not to cry.

"Kyo… we're on the ground," Sicily told her softly.

"I know… just give me a second," Kyo whimpered. She breathed in several shaky breaths before suddenly jumping as something hot hit her. It surprised her; causing her to finally open her eyes. Junior had craned his neck back to look at her. The hot breath she felt was his breath as he let out another breath from his nose at her.

"Wee!" Sicily jumped from Junior's back with ease. Making Kyo look down at her for a few seconds before breathing out deeply, and finally jumping to the ground herself. Her knees almost gave out causing her to put one hand on the ground stopping her from falling face first into the dirt. The area around was completely barren. They were in Kansas after all. The only thing that was in sight was a small cave just ahead of them.

"Dad! Are you here?" Junior suddenly asked before bounding inside the cave. His massive steps caused the ground to shake. Both of the twins grabbed on to one another as Junior ran. "Dad? Ben? Sorrel?" They heard Junior's voice echo around the cave. Sicily suddenly lets go of Kyo and went rushing to Junior's side. Kyo ran after her sister. All three of them were in the cave, but there was nothing inside the small cave. Junior let out a low groan before laying down on the cave floor. "They aren't here…" Junior whined.

"Oh, sweetie-" Sicily lightly patted Junior's scales in comfort. Before she could finish her sentence, Lola spoke up.

"Wait… Junior throw some fire around, I think I see something!" The rat ordered quickly. Junior looked at Lola for a moment before lifting his head up and taking a deep breath. Kyo watched as dazzling blue fire left his mouth, and bounced around the top of the cave. For a moment she was so awestruck by the fire that she didn't look at what was in front of her before Lola suddenly let out a happy gasp. "They were here!" Lola exclaimed. Junior moved his head down and puffed some fire in front of him. Suddenly the cave lit up again as a fireplace that none of them saw before because of darkness around them. Beside the fireplace made Kyo narrow her eyes a little before walking over to the warm fireplace. Leaning down she picked up some sort of cloth. Opening it up a little; she quickly realized it was a hoodie! It felt thick and soft.

"That's Ben's!" Lola gasped as she ran over to the hoodie. Kyo watched with interest as the rat sniffed it before nodding. "Yep, it's Ben's! That means they were here!" Lola clapped her tiny paws together.

"That probably means they aren't in the cave a mile away," Sicily chimed in. "It wouldn't make any sense. So, our best option would be to check out the closest town. You say Ben is human? Odds are he went there to stock up on supplies or what not."

"She's right," Junior gave a nod. "Hop on, we'll go there now!" He told them quickly as he got down.

"Whoa! Whoa. Slow down." Kyo put her hands out stopping everyone. "It is a good idea, but you're forgetting one thing."

"What's that?" Junior asked.

"It's the middle of the night! Everyone is sleeping, we can't go now."

"Then we'll wait until morning, good thinking!" Sicily clapped her hands happily.

"Whoa there… Sicily, you realize how horrible of an idea that is? Right? We have to be home early in the morning to make dad's breakfast and feed the animals. If we stay here for the night-"

"I know you're worried, but listen. I think we could get away with it. We'll tell daddy we went to town-"

"-The truck is still at home he'll know we lied-"

"Good point… what if just one of us goes home then? I'll stay with Junior, and you can go home."

"And do the chores all by myself? Plus; you saw what happened this morning. Daddy noticed I was missing for too long talking to Lola, and went searching for me." Kyo huffed out. The idea of having to do all those chores while her sister got to go off on this adventure? Ha!

"You can move the truck and hide it telling daddy I went into town. Plus, Kyo, you nearly had a damn heart attack on Junior when he flew a measly mile! This town is five miles. Do you think you can make it five minutes in the air?" She asked Kyo loudly. There was a moment of silence as Junior looked at the twins. Finally, Kyo wrapped her arms around herself before finally nodding.

"You're right,"

"I know I am. Junior?" Sicily turned and faced the dragon. Junior had his ears perked up as he looked at her with interest. "Are you up for two trips?"


	4. Chapter 4

After another terrifying flight on Junior's back. Kyo was back at the farm. Sneaking up the window, with Junior's help, Kyo snuck back inside silently. "Be back before too long," Kyo told Sicily as her sister rested on Junior's back with ease.

"Of course! Don't worry!" Sicily waved goodbye, and with that Junior shot off into the night. Kyo watched until Junior was just a speck in the distance before shutting the window and climbing into bed. She was honestly really tired. She had no clue what time it was, but she didn't care. Laying in her bed Kyo was out the instant her head hit the pillow.

The rooster woke her up only hours later. Cracking her eyes open her memories came rushing back to her and she jumped off of her bed in a rush. She needed to move the truck! Rushing downstairs in a quick rate. Kyo jumped the final two steps silently and snatched the keys off of the table before running outside. The cold hit her first it was enough to cause her to shiver violently, but she had to ignore that for now. Running to the truck she sat in the front seat and turned the ignition over. The engine gave a familiar loud ' _pop!'_ meaning she had to be fast or else her father would be suspicious. Ignoring the sudden pain in her lower abdomen at the moment. Kyo backed the truck up and drove off down the road. The early morning air making her freeze something horrible. The thin coat she was wearing wasn't helping at all.

Going down the road for about a half-mile. Kyo drove the truck off of the road carefully and parked it. Hoping nobody could see it, she got out and frowned a little. Her stomach was starting to bug her a little more. It made her want to do nothing more than to curl up in a ball and cry. Still, she pushed onwards she couldn't be distracted now. If their father found out then she'd be in more pain than just a stomach ache. Doing her best to rush down the road so she could make good time, Kyo made it home in less than ten minutes. Quickly she grabbed the chicken feed to make it look like she was doing her chores.

"Kyo!" Her father yelled loudly as she was in the middle of placing the feed down. She felt her mind scramble horribly at what she could have done wrong. Did he see her leave and come back? Did-

Breakfast.

Kyo forgot to make him breakfast. Her mind now racing fast to find a suitable lie for her mistake. Kyo watched in horror as her father came marching up to her.

"Did you and your sister forget something?" He asked her a bitter snarl on his face as he leaned down so they were face to face. Kyo felt her knees turn to jelly as her mind ran a blank.

"I'm sorry, Daddy…. Sicily noticed that we were out of ham and went into town to get you some. I just decided to get a headstart of our chores while she was away. We really didn't mean anything bad by it, Daddy. I promise as soon as she gets back we'll get to making your breakfast," Kyo lied. The lie came so easily to her that she almost felt ashamed of herself. Her father wasn't so easily fooled as he stood there scrutinizing her for a full thirty seconds. It really made Kyo want to shrink up and vanish. Also at that moment her stomach gave a painful twist causing her to squeeze her eyes shut for a few seconds.

"Sicily went to get ham?" He asked her as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes," She tried so hard not to squeak out in pain as it started to feel like someone had taken a knife and started to twist it in her stomach.

"Very well… get back to work," He ordered as he finally left Kyo to be. Kyo waited till he went inside before finishing up with the chickens, but that's about all she could do as her stomach was just in absolute pain. She knew something was horribly wrong, but she just didn't know what. Leaving the chickens be for now; she had no choice, but rushing back inside the home past her father and into the bathroom.

That was when she knew something horrible did happen to her. Unsure on how to react she stood there in a panic before suddenly yelling out very fearful-

" _Daddy!"_

* * *

" _Late! So late!"_ Sicily whined as she rushed back to the cave where Junior and Lola were sleeping peacefully. " _Late!"_ She yelled to Junior as she shook the dragon's head vigorously causing Junior's eyes to snap open to look at her. "We are so late! Kyo is going to kill me!" Sicily continued to yell to Junior as she jumped on the dragon's back.

Junior lifted his head and let out a loud yawn. "Very well…" Junior let out a low grumble as he stood up. Sicily strapped herself into the dragon's back with the rope.

"Alright let's get to flying!" She ordered proudly.

"I can't fly during the day," Junior told her plainly as he stretched his front paws out and clawed at the ground.

"Eh? Scared of getting caught?" Sicily asked him as she looked around the small cave.

"No, I can't fly when the sun is out, I can only fly at night," He told her simply as he turned his head to look at her.

" _Then how are we going to get back?!"_ Sicily demanded with a shriek as she pulled at her hair.

"I can still run! And don't yell at me!" Junior seethed back at her as he seemed to tense up angrily. Sicily calmed herself down after that, she honestly felt bad for yelling.

"I'm sorry, can we hurry up? I'm way later than I thought," Sicily spoke to him softly before lightly patting the side of his face in a comforting matter. Junior gave her a soft huff before shaking himself a little more before suddenly rushing forward at full speed almost knocking Sicily off of his back. "Whoa! Junior!" She screamed and leaned down close to his spine so she wouldn't go flying off of his back. ' _I've ridden horses before, but nothing like this!'_ Sicily thought as she felt her bushy hair go flying back due to how fast they were going. Junior made large bounds and leaps. Sicily could hear Junior's feet booming against the ground with each leap. Sicily only held on tighter in fear of slipping and falling off of the dragon's back. It took Junior a little longer to make his way over to the truck for a couple of reasons. The first one being that he's a slow runner, the second being that they had no clue where Kyo had hidden the truck. They finally found it a little too close to the home. Sicily had a feeling she was going to be scolding Kyo for this.

"Thanks, Junior! I'll send Kyo to you tonight under the road! I promise!" Sicily yelled to Junior as she jumped into the truck.

"I'll be waiting!" Junior called after her as he quickly went back to the cave under the road. Sicily pulled the keys out of the glovebox and stuck them in the ignition. The engine made its normal sound and Sicily was off. Driving quickly to their home she could only blink when she was in the driveway and saw Pastor Larry's own car sitting there. Parking the truck quickly, Sicily hopped out and ran up to the house. Practically barging through the door at a quick rate she paused when she Kyo sitting on the couch. There was a brown bag in her lap and she just looked so disheveled about something. Sicily was quick to note that her dad and Pastor Larry were talking in the other room.

"Hey, what's going on? Did they find out?" Sicily asked Kyo. Sitting down next to her sister on the couch, she only watched as Kyo looked up at her.

"Did it happen to you too?" Kyo questioned quietly.

"Did what-"

"Ah, Ms. Sicily! There you are," Came Pastor Larry's voice as he swept into the living room with his usual grace. "This is for you." Giving Sicily a brown bag, Sicily only raised her eyebrow before taking the bag. Opening it up she only had more questions.

"What… are these?" She asked pulling out the object in question. It was a square wrapped in some sort of thin plastic wrap. It felt soft as she squeezed it a couple of times. Her father had a bit of a blush on his cheeks as he looked away. This did not go unnoticed by the pastor.

"Now, Mr. Genesis, there is no need for that. This is a wonderful thing to happen to your two daughters," Pastor Larry reassured their father. Sicily looked at her sister hoping for some sort of clue as to what in the world was going on, but she still just looked horrible. Her inky black hair was sticking every which way as she shook. Sicily never saw Kyo like this, never.

"What is going on? What are these? What's wrong with Kyoto?" Sicily finally demanded as she stood up.

"Sicily! You will not talk to the Pastor on such a matter!" Her father scolded.

"That's enough out of everyone! Sicily has questions, and I would be remiss if I didn't answer those questions for her, Ms. Sicily your sister has become a woman today."

"Eh?" Was the only sound that could come out of Sicily's mouth. "How is today different from yesterday? What makes today so special? I mean if it were tomorrow it'd be different because tomorrow is our birthday…" Sicily started to ramble at Pastor Larry.

"Mr. Sicily your sister entered womanhood today because she got her period-" The Pastor chuckled at Sicily at patted her head. "-and if what I know true, you can't be too far along yourself. You take these-" The pastor took the square out of Sicily's hand and showed it to her. "-Unwrap them, stick them in your underwear, and change them daily." The pastor instructed Sicily as he placed it back it her palm and gave her cheek a bit of pinch. Kyo suddenly let out a low groan as she clutched onto her stomach. Sicily sat back down and placed the square back into the bag. The Pastor clapped his hands causing both of the girls to give him attention again.

"Now, I guess now is a good time as any to tell you two something I've been planning along with your father." Pastor Larry spoke proudly as he grabbed a chair and sat in front of them. Kyo clearly didn't care as she just leaned against Sicily, clearly looking for comfort. Sicily went as far as to let Kyo rest her head on her lap. Sicily gently ran her fingers through Kyo's own bushy hair and looked at Pastor Larry.

"Oh? A surprise?" Sicily asked him trying to sound interested.

"Well, no longer. You see, with your fourteen birthday coming up, and with Ms. Kyoto finally becoming a woman your father and I have decided it's time for you two to marry."

Kyo's head popped off of Sicily's lap in a hurry. "I'm sorry. Did you just say it's time for us to _marry_?" Kyo asked loudly with a look of disbelief on her face. "With whom?!"

The Pastor sat proudly in the seat. "Me."

" _You have a wife!_ " Kyo was quick to seeth at the Pastor.

"Kyo!" In one quick moment, she was met with a harsh slap on the back of the head by their father, causing Kyo to yelp in pain. "You will _not_ talk to the Pastor that way!"

"Thank you, Mr. Genesis. Ms. Kyo, I am aware that I am already married, but you see my wife isn't providing me with what I really need," The Pastor quickly explained.

"What do you need from us?" Sicily questioned.

"A child. My wife is barren."

"No!" Kyo shot up finally. "Absolutely not-"

"You have no choice in this matter!" Their father screamed loudly at Kyo.

"I think I do! I'm not marrying him!"

"Yeah! I'm not either!" Sicily joined in as she stood up proudly beside her sister. "I'm sorry your wife is barren, Pastor, but you can't just marry whoever you please because of it!"

"I think I can. You two forget. My word is law in this town. I can marry whoever I see fit, you two should be honored I chose you, I mean-" The pastor paused to laugh. "-I'm not even separating you two! It's perfect!"

"Perfect!?-" Kyo's father raised the back of his hand and she flinched before backing away quietly.

"Girls, no more arguing. Go up to your room," Their father ordered harshly as he pointed them up the stairs. Sicily wanted nothing more than to yell and scream at them, but she knew it'd only end in her getting stuck by her father.

' _This isn't fair! We aren't property! He can't just give us away!'_ Sicily's mind screamed inside her head in rage. She couldn't believe her father for agreeing to this at all. Again, she almost said something, but when she saw Kyo rush up the stairs she quickly turned and hightailed it out of there herself. The moment the two of them were in their rooms Kyo slammed the door shut in her fit of rage.

"They can't do this!" Sicily yelled out as she tried to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"I know they can't! But what are we going to do? There's almost nothing we can do!" Kyo paced back and forth as she ran her fingers through her ponytail in thought.

"Maybe… there is something we could do…" Sicily brought up in a whisper as she sat down on the edge of her bed.

"What?"

"Runaway… with Junior. They'd never find us," Sicily spoke softly as she grabbed Kyo's hands.

"You want us to live with a dragon? Can we even do that? Will Junior even allow it?" Kyo brought up quietly.

"Maybe we don't even tell him right away? It'll help everyone if we stay with him while he's looking for his father,"

"..." Kyo stood there, her hands in Sicily's hands, she was debating everything. Sicily could see Kyo weighing the options before nodding. "Okay, we'll leave tonight."

* * *

After getting yelled, and both of them struck by their father for disrespecting the Pastor. Kyo and Sicily quietly got packed. They both had only small bags so they couldn't bring much. They just packed a couple of clothes and the things the Pastor gave them. By the time they finished packing the sun was starting to set. Kyo opened the window and was the first to jump out the window into the pile of hay. Sicily followed after her and landed right beside Kyo. With no words between them they dusted themselves off and made their way down the road. Kyo was still picking straw out of her hair when Sicily finally spoke up.

"So, do you think Junior is going to be okay with this?"

"I don't think he'll mind it at first," Kyo shrugged as she shifted her bag on her shoulder. Sicily reached over and held her sister's hand. "This is a new leaf, right?"

"Yeah, you're right."

More silence between them as they continued to walk down the empty road.

"I can't believe the Pastor wants to marry us just to have a child," Sicily finally spoke with a bitter scoff.

"I think there is something more nefarious going on that just that. He's using his power to make sure we marry him. He wants something more, I'm telling you," Kyo responded as she lightly swung her arm causing Sicily's arm to swing with hers. Finally, after a long while of walking without any more words being said the two of them turned down the road and towards the cave where Junior was already waiting.

"Both of you?" Junior asked flicking his ears at them as he leaned down and nuzzled both of their stomachs. "Not that I'm complaining," He made a sound that sounded close to a cat's purr.

"Yeah, something came up…" Kyo responded softly as she rested patted Junior's head. Sicily looked ready to drop as her eyes drooped heavily.

"I'm ready for bed…" Sicily half whined as she rested against the cave. "I haven't slept at all," She filled them in.

"Well, you'll get some sleep tonight after we go back to that cave," Junior told her as Sicily climbed onto his back. Kyo took several deep breaths, emotionally preparing herself for the trip to come, before hopping in front of Sicily. Making sure she was safe and snug, Kyo shut her eyes and waited as Junior unfolded his wings. Breathing heavily Kyo felt Junior take off into the sky. She didn't scream this time and she proud of that fact, she still didn't open her eyes during the flight though. A few painstaking heart-pounding moments later they were back at the cave close to the town.

"Both of you?" Lola asked as Sicily and Kyo jumped off of Junior. "Doesn't matter-" Lola quickly dismissed it. "-We have bigger problems. We need to find Firedrake and the others as fast as possible! I'm afraid at the rate we're going we might not find them alive! It's already been a week!" Lola scrambled over to them. "So one of you needs to go back into town first thing tomorrow morning!"

"I'll do it," Kyo volunteered, knowing that Sicily was already tired enough as it was, plus she was curious about this town. Sicily didn't complain at all as she just huddled against Junior's side ready to fall asleep.

"Okay, I hate to sit around, so I'm going to do another scouting check around the area for the night, all of you get some sleep. Junior, I have a feeling you haven't slept at all either," Lola spoke calmly as she ran back to push her plan out of the cave.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, I stayed awake in the cave all day…" Junior let out a mighty yawn, sticking his tongue out like a cat does, as he clawed at the cave below. "I'm pretty tired…" he rested his head on the ground ready to go to sleep.

"Hey…" Kyo spoke to Lola as she picked up Ben's hoodie. "It's kinda cold out here, do you think I could wear this?" She asked the rat.

"I don't care, it's not even mine, just know that it is Ben's so when we find him it's him you have to answer to afterwards," Lola told her plainly before hopping into her plane. Kyo had to bite her tongue as she thought to herself, " _You mean, if we find him…'_

She watched as Lola swept off into her plane and was gone before she knew it. Kyo shedded her thin jacket in favor of Ben's thicker hoodie. Instantly she fell in love with it, it was long and cozy. Ben must have been bigger than her because the sleeves of the hoodie went way past her hands about a good three inches maybe. Still she was now in something warmer than that inky-dinky thin jacket of hers. Laying away from Junior, she still had some use for her jacket as she rested her head on it as a pillow. For a few seconds all she could hear were the sounds of the outside, crickets chirping, a loon hooting off in the distance, and a owl hooting not too far away from them. Kyo was almost ready to doze off when suddenly Junior's mighty paw came down around her body. "W-Wha-" Before she could even finish her sentence she was being dragged gently along the cave floor as Junior decided to hold her close.

Junior's scaley body warmed her up even more than Ben's hoodie did. He nuzzled his chin against her head making Kyo sit there and wonder just one small thing: ' _When did my life get this strange?'_

* * *

Early the next morning Kyo was woken up by Lola, the rat patting the girl's face with her tiny paws.

"Stop…" Kyo moaned softly as gave Lola a bit of shove. Lola gave a tsk in response and watched as Kyo rolled over so she was nuzzling her face to Junior's chest. Lola put her hands on her hips before walking over to Kyo and climbing on top of the girl's arm. Making her way to Kyo's face, Lola started to, not so gently, knead her claws against Kyo's cheek.

"Wakey, wakey!" Lola cooed gently.

"Ow!" Kyo jumped off, knocking Lola off of her and on the to the ground. "That hurt!" Kyo complained as she rubbed her cheek.

"Well wake up on time and I wouldn't have to do that! Trust me, I've done that to Ben more than a few times to get that stubborn human to wake up," Lola told Kyo as she waved her finger at Kyo like a scolding parent. "Now get up, you have to go to that town! I searched around this area and even explored of the smaller caves but found nothing! That town is our only hope at this point!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going…" Kyo muttered as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Getting away from Junior, Kyo walked over to the cave entrance and looked outside for a few minutes. It was early morning she could see that from the hazy foggy air that hung around them, the dew was still on the grass, and the air was all just wet and cold. Shivering a little she wrapped the hoodie around her tighter before walking out. "Which way is it?" She asked Lola softly.

"Just to the left, keep walking and you can't miss it," the rat spoke confidently.

"Okay, if I get lost it's on you…"

"You won't get lost."

Kyo let out a sigh and started off on her small journey. Walking to the left he just kept going that way. It was a little lonely without Sicily here to talk to her, but she was making due with her own thoughts.

' _I wonder if daddy noticed us missing yet, I bet if he has the grand pastor Larry is probably out looking for us as well,'_ Rubbing her cold arms, she gave a bit of a sniffle to the cold Kansas air. ' _How could daddy do this to us? Just to give us away to the Pastor the first chance he got? What did we ever do to him to make him give us away like that?'_ Her mind became sad as her stomach started to ache once more. She hated it, she hated it all. Her stomach was really putting a fight with her at the moment as it was feeling more and more like a knife twisting around. Still, she pushed through it all. Walking over a log, she was a good ways away from the cave now

Looking to her right she saw a rather large boulder, she would have just continued on straight but something caught her eye. Something shiny on the ground. Going off course for a second, and doing her best to ignore her stomach pains, she walked over to the shiny object. She felt a little shocked when she found a silver ring on the ground. Picking it up she examined it closer. It was a round ring, of course, that was engraved to make it look like the body and head of a dragon.

"Man, what is with dragons lately?" She thought out loud to herself. "Still… nice find. I'll keep that…" She smiled as she tucked the ring into her pants pocket next to her very small amount of money, and walked away from the boulder. "Might be worth something."

With that she continued down her path. The air was still cold and sticky, and her stomach was still aching something horrible, but she continued until she saw it in the distance. "Woah…" Stopping for a moment she looked at the town off in the distance. It was bigger than the small town she lived in, it looked like it had more shops and places, businesses, homes. It honestly made her excited. She wanted so badly to jog over to the town, but she just couldn't with her stomach pains. So she settled on a quick power-walk there. Making it closer and closer to the town she could see just how big it truly was. Before she knew it she was at the entrance. Looking at the town's name she smiled.

 _Harksville_

Putting one step into the town, she paused, sucked in a deep breath, and finally walked forward. Immediately to her right, she saw a man hauling an old looking horse across the dirt path. The man looked at her and nodded. "Mornin' little lady," He smiled at her. Kyo gave the man a smile back. Snapping out of her slight daze she walked with the man. The man didn't even seem to mind as she walked beside him and his horse.

"Excuse me, sir, I'm looking a boy. He was last seen wearing this hoodie?" She asked him with a smile as she tugged on Ben's hoodie.

"What did the boy look like?" The man asked as he lead the horse into a stable.

"Uh…" Kyo paused when she realized she had _no clue_ just what Ben looked or sounded like. Nobody told her a thing.

"I can't help you if you don't know, sweetheart. I see a lot of people daily," The man told her plainly before putting a saddle on the horse.

"Excuse me!" Feeling embarrassed by this Kyo decided to leave the man alone to his chores. Walking out into the road Kyo stood there for a few seconds as she looked around the town. She had no idea just who she was looking for, and this was going to be a challenge- "Ah!" Kyo groaned out as she held her stomach it started hurting again this time worse than before.

"Period cramps?"

Hear a voice to her left Kyo turned to see who had spoken to her. Her jaw almost dropped.

It was a girl, no older than she was, she had gorgeous blonde hair tied into long braided pigtails. She looked like an angel as she walked in slow-motion over to Kyo. Baby blue eyes, round heart-shaped face, tan white was wearing almost nothing. A pink plaid top tied up so Kyo could see her belly, something that was forbidden greatly in Kyo's town, blue jean shorts that showed her long, long... _beautiful_ tan legs, and finally cowgirl boots, pink, goes with her top.

"Need some _Midol,_ sugah?" The girl asked Kyo once close enough to her. Kyo felt like she swallowed tongue. This complete and utter _angel_ was talking to her and she had no clue how to properly react. The girl gave Kyo a smile and Kyo almost died right then and there, this girl was beautiful.

"I… uh…" Kyo gulped loudly.

"I don't think I've seen you 'round these parts before," The girl continued to talk as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small packet. "New?" She asked as she handed Kyo the packet. Kyo took it and saw two small pills before looking back at the girl.

"Uh… yeah… Yes! Yes, I am." Kyo finally got her barings back. "I'm looking for… my cousin… he was last seen wearing this?" She pulled on the hoodie.

"Hm, 'faid you have to be more specific, Sugah,"

' _I love her speaking…'_ Kyo thought before snapping out of it. "I, uh, couldn't tell you…"

"But he's your cousin?"

"Yes?"

The girl put her hands on her hips and gave Kyo a questioning look. "I think I know who can help you. Our Mayor, she's good at remembering things like this…Oh, I'm Alice."

"Kyoto."

Kyo got the look again. "Seriously?" Alice asked as she looked Kyo up and down.

"Uh-huh!" Was all Kyo could say in response.

"Alright then, come along, Kyoto."

"Kyo. Please."

Alice turned and Kyo followed not at all minding the view she was left with. She didn't even bother looking at the other buildings, only what was in front of her. The walk was way too short for Kyo's liking.

"Alright, here you are. Mayor Morri's house," Alice pointed to the, rather plain, looking home.

"Is she like a pastor?" Kyo questioned without hesitation.

"No, she's in charge of the town, not the church, though if you're looking to be saved there's a church right there," Alice pointed over to the rustic looking building just a few houses down. "It's not a big church, but it's the best we have," Alice explained.

"No… no thanks…" Kyo spoke softly as she walked up to the house and knocked.

"So… I take it you're Japanese by your name?" Alice questioned as she leaned against the mailbox to the home.

"Half, actually," Kyo got ready for the 'ching-chong' bullcrap ready to come out of the girl's mouth, but it never came.

"That's cool, you'll really like Ms. Morri then, she's Japanese as well."

That was when the door finally opened. A woman, no older than forty, answered it. She was clearly just waking up as she was dressed in her PJ's. Kyo looked at the woman's face, she was in fact Asian. She had thin brown eyes and inky black hair that framed her round face. She looked tired as she had bags under her eyes. The woman's eyes went wide and she practically jumped back in fear. "Himari- no…" The woman breathed out softly. "I apologize, Alice, who is this?"

"Ms. Morri, this is Kyoto, she's looking for her cousin, he was last seen wearing this," Alice pulled on Kyo's sleeve and Kyo felt herself blush brightly. "That's all she's got." Kyo was quick to realize that Alice was making fun of her lack of knowledge on Benjamin. This made her blush even harder.

Morri didn't seem too into it as she continued to stare at Kyo was such an intensity that it made Kyo blush even harder. "It can't be…" Morri breathed out loudly.

"Ms. Morri?" Alice asked softly.

"... Alice, please give me and Kyo a moment, please…" She breathed as she grabbed Kyo by the sleeve and dragged her into her home.

"I'm sorry!" Kyo quickly apologized, she didn't know if she did anything wrong, but just wanted to get that sorry out there just incase. The door shut, and Morri stood there shaking. "I didn't mean any harm by it! Okay, I'm not looking for my cousin! I lied, I'm sorry! I don't know the kid!" Kyo quickly explained.

"Shhhh…" Morri put her finger to Kyo's lips, silencing her. "Kyoto… where is your twin Sicily?"

"Sicily? She's off- waits…" Kyoto frowned, she's never mentioned Sicily, she never even mentioned she had a twin! "How do you know that?" Kyo asked the woman. Morri leaned against the back of her couch and frowned.

"You're far away from your town, little lady… how did you even get away from that hellhole?"

"That's a story for another day, and don't avoid my question! How did you know I had a twin?" Kyo demanded now growing defensive. Did the Pastor already call a 'missing persons' report on the two of them?

Morri leaned over the couch and pulled in her purse. Kyo watched as she pulled out a wallet and pulled out a picture. Morri handed it to Kyo. Kyo felt a frown tug on her lips as she grabbed it and looked at it.

In the picture were two Japanese women, each of them holding a small baby in their were both in a hospital by the looks of it. Kyo flipped the picture over.

 _Yui, Himari, Sicily, and Kyoto, December 14th, 2003_

"... No…" Kyo looked at the woman as Kyo continued to shake her head.

"Kyoto…"

"You're our Aunt?" Kyo looked at the woman with wide-eyes, as she shook like a leaf in the wind, this was just unbelievable. ' _This can't be true! It just can't be!'_ Yui looked at Kyo before crossing her arms over her chest and sighing out deeply.

"... Yes."


	5. Chapter 5

"Y… You know? I think I hear…-" Without waiting for anything else Kyo went to bolt out of the house, but Yui was fast and grabbed her stopping her from running.

"Kyo! Please don't be alarmed!" Yui yelled at Kyo keeping her grip around Kyo's wrist tight. It wasn't so tight that it hurt, but tight enough that it was causing Kyo to put up a bit more of a fight. "I know this is a lot to take in, and I'm sorry!"

"Just let go!" Kyo yelled this time around as she wanted nothing more than to flee. ' _This isn't true! She's not- Daddy never-!'_ Kyo's mind flew into a panic as she tried to get away from Yui.

"Please!..." Yui frowned at Kyo before finally letting go of her wrist. Kyo, who was still struggling at that moment, fell back from her own force. She didn't fall onto the ground but did hit the wall. "Just tell me if Sicily is okay, please!" Yui asked her loudly as she clasped her hands together in desperation.

Kyo was breathing heavily at this point as she looked at Yui with wide eyes. Looking at Yui up and down frantically, Kyo slowly brought herself to relax. Her hands still out in a shaky matter she took in several deep breaths. "She's resting…" Kyo spoke softly as she rubbed her arm awkwardly. She couldn't bring herself to look at Yui, not at the moment.

"How did you two escape that cult?"

Kyo blinked at Yui's question, what in the world was a 'cult'? She had so many questions on her mind now, but something on Yui's wall caused her to reel her mind back. The Japanese dragon framed picture. ' _I still have a job to do! Lives are at stake! I can't just stand here! But how can I find Ben if I don't know anything about him? Junior, I need to come back, crap!'_

"Kyo, how did you get away!?" Yui asked a little louder when Kyo didn't answer. Kyo's eyes darted back to Yui.

"I… need to come back!" Kyo yelled. She hadn't meant to yell, but she did, and now she was running out of Yui's house. Yui screamed after her, but Kyo was already out of the house.

"Kyoto! Wait!" Alice yelled. Next thing she knew she was being chased by the blonde haired, blue eyed angel. It didn't seem hard for Alice as her long legs helped her keep in stride with Kyo easily. "I didn't mean for you to get in trouble!" She still gave chase to Kyo.

"It's not you! I have to go!..." Kyo turned so they were now face to face. "I'll be back, I promise."

Turning around, she took off quickly. Once she was out of the town and out of breath she stopped to catch her breath for a moment before walking once again. The morning fog was now gone showing a bright clear day. She had no clue what time it was or how long she's been away from the others, but she needed two things. What Ben looked and sounded like, and Sicily. Kyo _needed_ Sicily to be with her right now. Why didn't Sicily warn her about Yui? Did Sicily not meet their one and only aunt? Did Sicily not think it was important?

Keeping her arms crossed and her shoulders hunched Kyo walked forward with nothing but her thoughts to herself. Getting to the familiar boulder told her she was walking in the right direction and gave her some peace of mind. It even reminded her of the ring in her pocket. She left it in her pocket for now and continued walking forward until she felt something smush under her cowgirl boot. "Urg! What did I-?" Lifting her boot up she looked under it to see a smashed mushroom stuck to the bottom of her boot. "Urg… at least it wasn't poop," She muttered as she wiped her boot off in a nearby patch of grass. Walking forward again she only shook her head with slight disgust.

She made it back to the cave where Junior and the others were resting quietly. She got ready to run in there to confront Sicily, but something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. On the ground just a little ways outside of the cave entrance it seemed to be an imprint of some sort. Walking over to it, she heard Junior yawn in the background, clearly her presence was enough to wake the sleeping child dragon. Going over to the imprint she crouched down to get a better look at it. "Whatcha lookin' at?" Junior sleepily asked as he clawed at the ground beneath him leaving deep imprints in the ground. He then stood up and stretched his hind legs out, much like a cat, before happily trotting over to where Kyo was each step he made caused the ground to shake, but he seemed uncaring as he just plopped down next to Kyo causing her to jump up a little.

"This. Junior look: these are tire impressions," She told him as she gently traced the dried print with her finger. The earth was hard and dried up. Gently she picked a piece of dirt up and let it crumble against her fingers before looking down at the tire print once again. Where did it come from? She had no clue.

"What's going on?" Sicily asked as she emerged tiredly from the cave. Her bushy hair a wild birds nest as it stuck up every which way. Sicily yawned loudly before stretching her arms above her head in an attempt to wake up more fully. Kyo wanted to tell her about Yui, but this seemed more important to her. ' _I didn't see these this morning, but then again, the fog stopped me from seeing them.'_ She thought. "Tire impressions," she told Sicily as her sister walked over so she was next to Junior.

"Fresh?" Sicily asked waking up a bit more.

"I… don't think so…" Kyo muttered as she felt the tire print again. "The ground is hard and crumbling… it must have happened during rain," Kyo deduced. "When was the last time it rained?" She asked Sicily. Sicily scrunched her face up. Junior looked between the two of them.

"It was before I met you guys, that much I know," Junior piped up. "I don't think it rained a drop!"

Kyo felt the tire impression again, the earth crumbling at the slightest touch. Sicily then snapped her fingers. "Last Tuesday! That was the last day it rained here, I believe."

"Well… I guess we're safe here still, but why would a car be this far off the road?" Kyo questioned as she stood up and looked around. There were no other tire tracks arounds, just these small impressions. She then shrugged and turned to Sicily. "We have another problem to deal with, anyway…"

* * *

"You didn't meet with her at all yesterday?" Kyo asked Sicily as the two of them walked towards the town once again.

Kyo, quite bluntly, asked Junior to describe Ben to her. Once she was told what he looked and sounded like (He's British!? That's important, Junior!) and they were off.

"That's why I went to bring you, someone told me that the mayor might be able to help me in my search, I was already late and figured I could lie to daddy about you leaving," Sicily told her as they walked past the familiar boulder. "... She's our aunt? Daddy never told us we had an aunt."

"I know, I feel kinda bad about rushing out the way I did, but I needed to get you, I didn't want to be alone in this," Kyo admitted embarrassingly. She kept her gaze down at the ground as she walked along with her sister. The air now a little more hotter now that it was midday and not morning. She could feel the sun beaming down on the back of her neck as her greasy black hair just kept getting hotter and hotter with the sun. She didn't want to take off Ben's coat just yet, it was still a little nippy out.

"I wouldn't want to be either," Sicily sighed softly as she gently patted Kyo's arm. The two of them walked and walked until the town started finally came into view. Picking up the pace until they were in the town. It literally only took seconds before Kyo was approached by Alice.

"Kyo-Oh!" Alice gasped at the sight of Sicily, clearly unaware of the fact that Kyo had a twin. Alice brought her hand up to her mouth and gently rubbed her face as she stared at the two.

"Alice, this is Sicily, my twin sister, Sicily this is Alice," Kyo introduced the two. There was a moment of tense silence before the two of them shook hands in a rather stiff manner. Maybe Sicily wasn't as captivated by Alice's beauty like Kyo was. "I'd like to hang and chat, but we need to see the mayor," Kyo told Alice as gently as she could before leading Sicily towards Yui's house.

They both walked up to the door, Kyo looked at Sicily before knocking gently on Yui's door. They didn't have to wait long for Yui to answer. She was now dressed in a skirt, heels, and crisp white shirt. She looked at the two of them and clasped her hands over her mouth before hugging them both close to her. Kyo at first felt afraid, she's never truly been hugged like this before, especially not from an adult, but she slowly relaxed when she realized Yui meant them no harm and hugged her back. Sicily seemed to do the same as she too relaxed and hugged the woman like she was hugging a long lost friend.

"Come in, please, don't run off this time," Yui asked them as she ushered them both inside her home. Both of them came in a little cautiously. Sicily was soaking up the sights as Kyo stood there and crossed her arms. Yui shut the door and turned to the two of them. "Look at you two, both so big!" She practically squealed as she pinched both of their cheeks. "-and filthy! When was the last time you two had a proper shower?" She asked as she felt their hair and looked at their hands and nails.

"... A… aunt Yui…" Sicily stammered a bit as she pulled her hand away. "We're looking for someone. His name is Benjamin, he's british with black hair and pale skin, you haven't seen him have you?"

"Can't say I have, but enough on that. How did you two escape that place, please just tell me that…" Yui asked as she sat down against the couch "... cult..." She huffed finishing her sentence.

' _There's that word again…'_ Kyo thought as Sicily filled Yui in them running away.

"-The pastor wanted to marry us to have his children! Can you believe it?!" Sicily yelled out now in ranting mode. "So we snuck out and ran away…"

"I can believe it…" Yui huffed slightly. "That's what a cult is, girls. Pastor Larry isn't doing anything for his phony religion. He has these people brainwashed into thinking his word is law and if you don't do as he says then you'll go straight to hell. It's not his first time doing something like this, and it won't be his last…"

"What do you mean?" Sicily questioned softly as she looked a Yui with curiosity in her eyes. Yui gave a deep sigh in response to it all and leaned her head back as if she was remembering a horrible memory.

"Girls, I think it's time you know what really happened to your mother…" Yui told them both as softly as she could. Gently she placed one hand on Kyo's shoulder and another on Sicily's, gently she rubbed their shoulders before looking at them in the eye. Kyo noticed a bit of sadness behind Yui's dark brown eyes as she looked at both them.

Sicily and Kyo perked up before looking at each other then back at their aunt. There was a moment of silence as Kyo started to feel uncomfortable standing there. Yui must have sensed the uneasiness because she ushered them both to the couch and forced them to sit. She took her seat on the coffee table and looked at her hands before sighing out deeply. She had her hands resting against her knees as she looked at the two of them with a sad expression on her face.

"When your mother met your father everything seemed fine, he was a hard working man who loved his farm and she thought for sure that he was just what we needed to start a great life. She didn't think it was anything suspicious when he asked her to live with him only after dating for a few months, in fact she loved it.

"I was living with them as it was hard for me to find a job and I was only sixteen at the time. At first it was just a perfect little farm life, your mother and father loved each other very much... It wasn't until after your mother had you two did she learn the truth about Lawrence and his practices. He wanted to marry me… that he wanted a child, many children with me and only me." Yui paused and let out a very shaky breath as she shut her eyes for a few seconds. "My sister was my guardian until I turned eighteen, that… is another story for another time, and she refused to let Lawrence have me. Lawrence promised that her soul would be saved and she was guaranteed a spot in heaven for her compliance; that this is what god would want. Still she refused…"

Kyo sucked in a deep breath. ' _Is that what he promised daddy?'_ she thought as she looked at Sicily. Sicily had no emotion just yet as she looked at Yui. Kyo looked back at her aunt and placed anxiously waited to hear the rest of the story.

"Then your father turned, I never seen this side of him. He started screaming at her, asking, demanding, if she wanted to go to heaven or not. She put her foot down and said she wasn't handing me over that it wasn't right. Your father struck her. Never have he ever raised his hand to her before, but he did here.

" I remember… pushing him away from her, Lawrence tried to grab me, but your mom kicked him in the face demanding he get away from me. She then got up and pushed me out the door, telling me to run… and… I did. I didn't look back, I never felt like more of a coward in my entire life!" Yui sobbed out as she put her face in her hands. "The town, they were prepared for my running it seemed. Traps all around to try and stop me…" Yui leaned down and pulled up her skirt so they could see her thigh, there on her right thigh was a scar that trailed all the way down to her knee. Her skirt just hardly covered it. "This was from the 'Grand pastor' himself with a knife, I remember knocking him out with a rock and running. I ran and ran and ran…. I thought for sure they were going to catch me, but… I somehow out ran them…" She pulled her skirt back down and let out a sigh before standing up. "I found this small town and was taken in by the mayor himself. He loved me and taught me everything I know today about being a mayor, but I never once forgot about you two, I… wrote letters to your mother. No return address of course, I never got one back. I feared the worst-"

"Mom died of cancer!" Sicily stood up quickly. It was at that moment Kyo realized her sister had been crying, like she didn't want to believe anything Yui had just said. Sicily was shaking now as her fists were clenched with rage.

"That's a lie then," Yui put it plainly as her eyes hardened. "Your mother was killed-"

"No!" Sicily sobbed loudly putting her hands against her face. "It can't be! She died of cancer! Kyo! Tell her!" Sicily told Kyo loudly. Kyo sat there, she felt numb, as she stared off past Yui and just looked at the wall. ' _We never knew mom…'_

"Sicily… we never knew mom-" Kyo number tried to say as she tried so hard not to cry herself. Sicily let out another loud sob as she sat back down on the couch. Yui gently hugged Sicily, but it was clear Sicily didn't want the affection as she pushed Yui off of her. "... Why didn't you go the police?" Kyo questioned softly.

"I tried, I told the old mayor everything, but there was nothing he could do because it wasn't his town… he tried his hardest to get you guys out of there, god did he try, but… in the end…" Yui sighed and wiped tearful eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"... how did she die?" Kyo asked softly. Sicily suddenly jumped from the couch and walked away covering her ears. Her eyes were screwed tight as more tears fell down from her face.

" _I don't want to know!"_ Sicily screamed loudly from the kitchen.

"... I don't know… they never found her body, Kyo, but… I have a feeling your father did to her what he does to the animals he no longer needs…" Yui sighed as she stood up and looked out the window. Kyo watched as the sunlight streamed through the window giving her almost a heavenly glow. Kyo shifted a little on the couch as she knew exactly what her dad does the animals he doesn't need and so she said what her aunt couldn't-

"He shoots them in the backyard…"

* * *

"Sicily! Stop! I can't keep up with you in heels!" Kyo yelled to her sister as Sicily was now running faster than Kyo has ever seen her. Of course the whole thing was just as upsetting to Sicily as it is to Kyo, but Sicily needed to slow down and think for a moment. In short they made it to the cave in record time. Kyo could hear Sicily absolutely sobbing by the time she made it to Junior. The dragon's ears were back as Sicily clung to his neck and sobbed harder that Kyo has ever seen.

"Sicily…" Kyo breathed out.

"Who hurt her?" Junior asked in such a voice that it caused Kyo to actually back up a little. This wasn't his normal voice, it was filled with anger and it was clear, he wanted to know just what made her sister cry like that.

"The truth, Sicily-"

" _How can he do that?! How could he kill our mother, Kyoto!"_ Sicily completely screamed through her tears as she turned to face Kyo. " _It's not fair!"_ Sicily buried her head in her hands once again and let out a heart wrenching sob before collapsing to her knees. This behavior concerned Junior as he gently nudged Sicily's side. All this noise caused Lola to poke her head out of the shadows as she watched what was going on. Kyo walked over to Sicily and collapsed to her knees as well before hugging her twin tightly.

"I know it's not fair… but Sicily… I think we always knew our father wasn't a good man…" Kyo whispered to Sicily. Sicily sobbed gently onto Kyo's shoulder as Kyo gently ran her fingers through Sicily's messy hair.

"What happened?" Junior questioned Kyo softly as he looked at the two.

"Our dad, he did some pretty bad things that we are just finding out about now, Junior," Kyo told him softly, gently she ran her hand up his snout and Junior's ears flickered a little at that as he tilted his head.

"Fathers… can be bad?" Junior asked them, he wasn't being mean or sarcastic, but genuinely confused by what Kyo had just said. It's one of those moments that made Kyo remember that Junior is only a child.

"Anybody can be bad, sweetie," Sicily sloppily wiped her eyes with her hands and sniffled loudly. She then let out a shaky breath as she tried to get her composure back.

"Junior, why would you ask that?" Kyo questioned him as she held Sicily's head to her chest hoping to comfort her sister.

"Well… My dad isn't bad, Professor Greenbloom is a nice dad to Ben, and I've seen a bunch of other dragon dads, none of them have ever done bad things-"

"No two dads are alike, Juinor…. Our dad once beat me within an inch of my life for burning breakfast," Kyo told him, Sicily let out a soft sob as she then rubbed her own arm awkwardly.

"He burnt me with a cigar for not ironing his shirt the way he liked it…" Sicily admitted to him.

"What about that time we accidently let Katherine out?" Kyo couldn't help but chuckle as the memory came back.

"I thought for sure he was going to kill us… he beat us both with that tree branch that day… right?" Sicily questioned as she focused more on a loose piece of string hanging off of her shirt than anything. Her voice was very lifeless as she asked.

"No, he beat us with a switch when we broke that vase by accident. He settled on his fist when we let Katherine out, I remember I had a black eye for months-" There was a low growl that resounded through the cave that made everyone look at Junior as the dragon was now snarling angrily.

"Never! Never again!" He snarled out, Kyo had to duck as a fireball suddenly hit the wall. The fireball came directly from Junior's mouth as the dragon still had blue flames licking around his teeth and tongue as he looked beyond menacing.

"Firedrake jr. You stop that before you cause a cave in!" Lola screeched at Junior.

"You heard them Lola! Their father beats them! _Beats them!_ " Junior yelled to the rat. "What kind of lowlife man would ever harm their own children like that! And you said he killed your mother! Oh!-" Junior got down suddenly and snapped his jaws showing his mighty teeth. Kyo felt her heart pound as she watched the dragon. Junior no longer looked sweet, innocent, and child-like. He now looked fierce and menacing something an actual dragon should look like. " _Never! I will never allow him near you two again!"_ Junior shouted so loudly that his voice bounced and echoed around the cave. Sicily looked at Kyo like she needed confirmation at what she just heard.

"Junior, what are you saying?" Kyo asked as the two of them finally stood up. Sicily looked at Junior with big curious eyes. She still had tears in her eyes as she gave a soft sniffle. Junior looked down at the two of them, he now looked wiser beyond his years as he looked at them before gently headbutting the two of them and nuzzing Sicily's cheek wiping her tears away from her eyes.

"What I mean, I'm never allowing you two to go back to that horrible man, never ever. Even if that means I have to scare him myself, you two are worth me being caught," Junior softly told them. Both of them hugged him tightly. Kyo just wanted this moment to last forever as she and Sicily held his head close to them, but everything comes to an end, and they're moment ended when they heard two loud gasps. Everyone turned around to see Yui and Alice both standing at the entrance of the cave.

Kyo wasn't the smartest girl, but she had a feeling that the two of them probably wondered where Sicily and Kyo ran off to, running in and out of town like probably caused more than enough suspicion for the duo. Kyo also figured that they must have followed her very own heeled footprints in the dirt, making the cave pretty easy to find.

Both Yui and Alice had their hands over their mouths in shock at the was shivering where she stood as her knees knocked together, and Alice looked ready to faint as all the color in her face drained and she also shook in place. Kyo could only utter one simple word as her body turned cold from fear.

"... Crap."


	6. chapter 6

Alice was the first to faint. Her long legs collapsed from under her. Kyo almost fell flat on her face rushing over to grab Alice. With Sicily's help the two of them placed Alice against the cave wall. "Lola, do you have any water?" Sicily asked the rat frantically. Lola took off for a moment while she did that Junior took this moment to study Alice as he looked directly into her face. Yui still haven't moved as she seemed to be frozen with fear. Lola came back, a bottle of water in her mouth as she scurried over towards them so fast that dust was flying behind her. Kyo was the first one to snatch the water bottle and pour the water directly onto Alice's face. Alice's eyes snapped open and she let out the loudest, ungodliness scream Kyo has ever heard in her life. Junior seemed surprised by this reaction. His ears went back and his eyes grew wide as he just looked at her.

"Junior, back up, your scaring her," Kyo told him as she put her hands on his snout and forced the dragon back. Junior did as she asked, but not before looking a little hurt by her notion. Alice, who was still screaming bloody murder, was trying to backup but the cave wall was stopping her from getting farther back.

"A-Alice, calm down…" Yui finally found her voice as she put her hand on Alice's shoulder in a tight grip, so tight that her knuckles turned white. Junior was quick to turn his attention to Yui. His sparkling yellow eyes scanning Yui with interest. Junior walked over to her, Alice started screaming louder as she tried her hardest to back up again. Yui stood tall and strong as she watched Junior.

"Junior! Back up!" Kyo tried again, but this time it fell on deaf ears as the curious dragon walked over towards Yui. Yui was rigid, her legs shook as she stiffly looked up at Junior with a terrified expression. Junior seemed to be interested in Yui as he started sniffing her. Alice's voice either gave out or she just stopped screaming because she finally went quiet only soft whimpers leaving her mouth the closer Junior got. After his almost 'adult' way of speaking five minutes ago Kyo had to remind herself that he was still only a child as he sniffed Yui. It started with her heels, then her legs, then- Smack!

Yui smacked his nose harshly, that did the trick, and Junior backed up wiggling his muzzle where he was smacked. "You hit me!" Junior yelled as well as whined astonished by Yui's action.

"You need to learn personal space!" Yui seethed as she pointed her finger at him. She she then helped Alice to her feet. Alice's legs wobbled as she held on to Yui for dear life.

"Aunt Yui, why did you follow us?" Sicily finally asked the question as she walked over to Junior and patted his muzzle gently. Junior only huffed against her hand before turning away from Sicily. Junior was now pouting.

"I knew you two had to be homeless and sleeping outside, I was going to bring you back to the town… I can see that in an odd way… I was right," Yui whispered as she turned attention back to Junior. The dragon only snorted at her angrily. "Plus I was afraid of you guys sleeping in a cave like this one-" She added with a small pause, "-These caves are old and known to collapse or cave in."

That caught Lola's attention the fat rat scrambled up Kyo's arm and looked at Yui, "Could it be possible that… no… do you know the caves around this area?" Lola asked. Yui's eyes went wide once more as she looked at the rat. Sicily watched as Yui seemed to like she was trying not to faint.

"I-" Yui paused to take a deep breath before straightening herself up and looking at Alice. Alice, who had been insanely quiet, only looked away. "-Why? What are you two involved with exactly?" Yui asked the twins, completely ignoring Lola for the time being. Sicily and Kyo looked at one another before deciding to just come out with the truth completely.

"We did run away, but that's not the whole story…" Sicily started. After that it was the two of them filling in Yui and Alice about what had happened in the past week, and finally they explained why they are really with a dragon and a talking rat.

"-We're looking for Junior's father, he's missing along with a human rider and a… brownie…" Kyo finished before rubbing the tip of her nose a bit.

"Not! The chocolate treat-" Sicily started but was cut off by Alice who seemed to finally find her voice for something that didn't involve screaming.

"This is insane Mayor Yui! I mean… this can't be real can it?" Alice asked her as she finally looked at Junior, then Lola, and finally the twins. "Can it?!" She repeated before stomping her foot down like a child.

"Alice…" Kyo grabbed Alice's arm gently before trying to find the right thing to say for a fews before outright saying it. "I couldn't believe it was real either, but it is, and right now there's another dragon, and two of his riders at risk. They are all lost and if found by the wrong people… or not found at all… it won't be good," Kyo spoke softly to Alice. Alice looked over at Junior, then to Yui.

"Are we really going to help a dragon?!" Alice demanded to Yui as if Yui was completely out of her mind. Yui seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding.

"I don't know about you, but the Japanese have always worshipped dragons and even did their biddings if asked. Even though this dragon doesn't know much about personal space, I can't help but agree with Kyoto and Sicily," Yui put it plainly as she looked over Alice. "Don't get me wrong, I am just as shocked as you are, but… I'm also amazed dragons are real!" Yui breathed out heavily as she looked back at Junior. She looked almost child-like as her eyes seem to have a sparkle behind them. Junior perked his ears up as he looked at her.

Yui then crossed her arms as she looked at everyone, even Alice. Alice had her arms crossed as she looked away from Yui, clearly still debating if she wanted to be involved or not.

"Alice, I can sense your uneasiness, if you don't want to be involved then that's fine," Yui told the young woman softly. Alice seemed to want that as turned her heel and ran out, but to Sicily's surprise Kyo went chasing after Alice.

"Alice! Wait!" Kyo yelled after as she jogged up with the american beauty. Both where wearing boots so it wasn't hard to keep up with Alice's pace. "Wait…" Kyo asked her as she grabbed Alice's wrist stopping her in her tracks. "Don't…" She whispered to Alice. Truthfully a part of her didn't want Alice to leave. She wanted Alice to be a part of this, even if it was selfish of Kyo. The chilly afternoon caused Kyo to shift Ben's jacket tighter around her before looking back at Alice. "Don't be scared. I know Junior is giant and he looks scary, but he's not, that dragon? Is literally a giant five year old!" Kyo told her as she put her hands on Alice's shoulder.

"I… that's a dragon!" Alice pointed back to the cave. Her brow was furrowed and she had a mix of confusion and horror on her face. "It will eat us the second it has the chance-"

"Alice, Junior doesn't eat meat, or anything of the sort, he feeds off of moonlight," Kyo explained to Alice as she put a hand on Alice's shoulder. Alice looked at her for a moment before breaking out a small smile.

"Your dragon just got less cool…" Alice joked as she wrapped her arms around herself. Kyo laughed a small bit before wrapping an arm around Alice's shoulder.

"Why did you come along?" Kyo asked Alice as they walked back towards the cave.

"Because I was mostly curious about where you two were running off to, and partly because, I have always been trying to get on Yui's good side, always, she's the first female mayor of our town and I've always looked up to her…"

"Ah, I thought your nose looked a little brown," Kyo teased lightheartedly. Alice gave her a bit of a playful shove earning giggles from the two of them. Going back to the cave, Kyo was greeted by Aunt Yui on her knees looking at Lola's map. Lola, Sicily, and Junior (who was keeping his distance from Yui) were all watching and listening to what she had to say.

"-They wouldn't be here, if they left from this cave, no, you probably need to expand your search outwards, maybe farther than the five hundred mile radius that you set-" Yui told Lola before pausing to take a breath, "-but if you want to stick to that radius, I suggest you search these two caves farthest out." Yui finished her sentence as she pointed to the two.

"You said the caves were old and prone to cave ins, is there a possibility that could have happened to them?" Lola asked Yui as she examined the map.

"It's a possibility, yes, but how are you so certain that they are still here, who's to say they haven't left Kansas by this point?" Yui asked Lola. The rat puffed up a little at that before looking back at Junior then to the twins.

"Basically, I was trailing them for a good while, but we got separated before Firedrake was to stop next, here, I had realized I had lost them and went back to the Greenblooms, Ben's family, they were a state over, they hadn't heard from Ben since they stopped. Here. In this spot. We waited for a call, but it never came, It's not like Ben to not call. Something happened to them. Here." Lola put it as bluntly as possible as she put her tiny foot down.

"Why are the Greenblooms not in Britain?" Sicily asked Lola. Kyo stood next to Yui and Alice looked at Lola probably having that same question on her mind. Lola suddenly look guilty as she took off her goggles and wrung them in her tiny paws, she had a frown on her face, and her whiskers dropped horribly along with her ears.

"It was my fault…" She whimpered softly before wiping her teary eyes.

"Lola…" Junior gently nuzzled her with his nose softly and carefully so not to knock her down. "We talked about this, it's not your fault. I don't blame you, and neither will they."

Sicily was fully engaged and curious now as she tapped her fingers against her legs. "What happened?" She asked.

"I wanted to map out America completely! Leave no stone unturned, and I forced them all to help me! Ben, Firedrake, Sorrel, The Greenblooms! All of them!" Lola let out a loud cry as she buried her tiny hands into her face now. "If I hadn't of forced them none of this would have happened! They might be dead because of me!" Lola cried again. Tiny tears running down from her eyes streaking her pale gray fur.

"Lola, it's not your fault," surprisingly it was Yui that spoke up. Yui's eyes darted over to Kyo and Sicily before swallowing hard. "For years I blamed myself for my sister's death and the possible death of my two nieces… I did what I had to do, I had to get away from that place if I wanted to survive myself, I know it's not the same as what you're going through but… for years I thought 'What if I had said yes to Larry?' or 'What if I hadn't of ran?'... Lola the words 'What if' are poison, the more you ask the more it hurts you. Right now the most you can do is move forward and try and find the others before it's too late." Yui told her softly before reaching into her pocket and taking out a napkin. Gently she dabbed Lola's eyes with the napkin.

"Besides, Lola, if you hadn't of had the Greenblooms help you they wouldn't be here helping in the search," Kyo spoke up. Gently she reached over and ran her index finger uptop Lola's head in an attempt to sooth the rat. Junior then nuzzled Lola with his nose once again.

"See? Nobody blames you," He told her gently before giving her a loving nudge to the side.

"Hey, she never mentioned you, why are you here?" Alice asked Junior as she looked at the dragon up and down. Junior blinked for a moment before sheepishly shuffling his large paws making it look like he was in trouble.

"I… may… or may not! Have gotten curious and snuck out of home to follow my dad," Junior chuckled once more.

"Well, it's a good thing you did, Junior, otherwise I'd be at a loss without you," Lola told him gently.

"Did your dad know you've been following them?" Sicily asked Junior. Kyo watched as she moved positions on the floor, most likely to stretch her legs out.

"No, if he would have known I think he would have turned around to send me home himself," Junior sighed deeply, Kyo watched as little blue sparks left his mouth as he did so. The sparks seem to bounce off of the ground for a split second before vanishing completely.

"Oh, wow, the sun is setting…" Yui observed as she stood up to look outside.

"Oh! It is!" Lola squeaked in a high pitch voice before folding up the map and rushing to her plane. "We've wasted two days on your town and got nowhere! We need to get back to searching ASAP!" Lola tucked her map into her plane. Both of the twins stood up before dusting themselves off.

"Whoa, whoa, you two aren't going with them are you?" Alice asked as she grabbed Kyo's arm.

"Of course we are! We've been going with them and we aren't stopping anytime soon," Sicily scoffed at Alice as she pulled Kyo away from her. "We're on a mission with them."

"Sicily, it was only a question, you don't need to get defensive," Kyo scolded her sister's behavior. It was odd to see Sicily like that. Junior, who didn't seem at all interested in what happened, got up and stretched himself out.

"It'll be nice to fly a little farther than what we have been tonight," Junior commented with a bit of a yawn. "Even though I didn't get much sleep today I'll still be able to fly! I can't wait to be in the air again!" He exclaimed happily with a bit of a hop. That 'little' hop caused the whole ground to shake around them.

"What did I say about cave in possibilities!?" Yui scolded Junior with a simple wave of her finger. "That is the last thing we need, young dragon!" Junior was affected by this as his ears went back shamefully and his eyes darted to the ground in guilt.

"Sorry miss…" He muttered a bit of a shallow apology like… well… a child that got caught doing something he shouldn't and was only apologizing because he got caught.

"Now-" Yui watched as Sicily and Kyo both hopped on Junior's back and waited for Lola to get her plane ready. Alice had to move out of the way as Lola came pushing her tiny plane to the cave entrance. "-I know I'm in no position of ask for anything from you guys, but, come back to the town by morning, please, I would like to spend some time with my nieces, if you would," Yui requested as she used one hand to grab on to Sicily's hand and the other to grab onto Kyo's. Both girls felt touched by this as Yui squeezed both of their hands. "Just… please."

Junior's lip gave a bit of a twitch at this request, but it was Lola that spoke up for him. "I'm sure we can do that, hopefully all will go well and your suggestions will bring Ben, Sorrel, and Firedrake home!" Lola happily chirped before taking off full speed in her plane.

"I… guess I'll come back…" Junior huffed a little in defiance towards Yui, once again reminding Kyo that he was indeed a child. Before the twins could say anything about it, Junior flapped his wings and off they were. Kyo let out a startled breath before clutching on to Sicily. Kyo wasn't screaming this time, so that was good. Still she kept her eyes closed and her nose pressed firmly against Sicily's back. Sicily was giggling happily.

"I missed this!" Sicily called out loudly in a joyus fashion. Kyo could feel her sister's arms move about. Doing something daring, Kyo peeked one eye open to look at Sicily just to see what her sister was doing. Sicily had her arms open wide, her head was tilted back, and she was just looking up at the night sky while enjoying the air passing them. Taking in a deep breath Kyo finally decided to face her fear. She looked down.

She expected pure terror to take over her voice as she looked down at the world below them, but to her surprise it was almost calming. She could see the barren land more fully and it was honestly pretty. Probably because this was the countryside and there were little to no people for miles, Junior and Lola flew low over the land allow Kyo and Sicily to soak up the beauty of the countryside. Kyo watched as a lake was underneath them, the moon relfected the untouched surface making it look more like a mirror than a lake. For a brief moment Kyo saw their reflections, but as soon as it came it vanished as Junior continued onward.

"This is…" Kyo breathed out softly as she continued to look at the beautiful sights below them. She watched as a red fox was just prowling for it's next meal below them, then just a few feet away there was a family of bunnies eating the grass oblivious to everything in the world. She could have watched the world below her for hours, but, the flight was short lived as they made it to the first cave that Yui had suggested. Lola was the first to land by the entrance of the cave. Junior didn't so much as 'land' as he did 'drop out of the sky like a flightless bird'. That caused Kyo to scream out. Her voice reaching levels she didn't even know was possible she clutched onto Sicily as Junior hit the ground with a very loud 'thump!'. The wildlife was quick to flee from the noise and the dragon.

"That was not cool!" Kyo yelled as she jumped off of Junior's back. "Not cool at all! Do not do that again! Land softly next time, Junior!" She scolded the dragon deeply and angrily as she gave a bit of a huff.

"Why is everyone yelling at me today!" Junior yelled back completely offended by this. Sicily was the one to speak up as she gently rubbed Junior's nose.

"You just tend to do somethings a little recklessly, sweetheart, just try to tone it down a little okay?"

Junior's ears lowered as he seem to pout a little at that before gently kneading the ground with his giant paws. "I don't mean to be…"

"We know you don't, sweetie," Sicily gently kissed the top of Junior's head before turning and walking away towards the entrance of the cave with Kyo.

"You're too soft on him," Kyo scoffed as they walked forward.

"He's a child, Kyo," Sicily fought back with a bit of bite in her voice. 'Agree to disagree it seems' Kyo thought as the two of them just walked over to the entrance of the cave. Hearing a noise behind her, she turned to see Junior scratching at his neck with his hind paw, making him look like a dog that just can't get that stubborn itch.

"What's wrong?" Kyo asked him, she crossed her arms in a bit of a bitter fashion.

"I'm itchy!" Junior whined back before snorting out a loud sneeze big blue sparks from his nose. "Sorry…" He whimpered through a clogged up nose. Kyo put her hands on her hips and only shook her head silently as the sparks died out. Junior walk over to the cave in one giant step. Sicily and Kyo both walked over to stand beside Junior as he poked his head inside the cave. "Dad? Are you in here?" Junior asked in a soft whisper that echoed around the still and silent cave. Kyo sadly patted Junior's neck when there was no reply.

"I'm sorry, Junior," Kyo gave a soft sigh as she looked around the dark cave. "Light a fire, maybe we can find some clues or something." Kyo suggested. Junior let out a bit of a sigh before throwing some fire around the cave lighting it up for a brief moment. There was nothing, no clues, no firepit, nothing left behind. Kyo tapped her chin in thought. "Well, we have another cave to look at, so don't give up just yet," She did her best to comfort Junior.

"Yeah, you're right, maybe they're at the next cave…" Junior tried to sound hopeful, but both of the twins could tell that it was failing. Lola gave a bit of a sigh herself as she traveled inside the cave for a few seconds. She vanished before emerging right back out.

"Yeah, let's try the other cave," Everyone walked away from the cave, ready to travel towards the next cave. Lola jumped into her plane, and Kyo got on top of Junior, Sicily was-

"Wait!" Sicily suddenly cried this made everyone turn to her hoping she found something, but Kyo could see her bouncing from foot to food. "I… have to use the bathroom… I'll be right back!" With her cheeks red from mild embarrassment. "I'll be behind this boulder, don't come back here!"

Kyo rolled her her eyes and stretched herself out on Junior's back to get comfy for a few seconds. That was when there was a shrieking scream from Sicily. Kyo practically rolled off of Junior's back to rush over to Sicily. "Sicily!" Kyo screamed as she rushed over towards the boulder.

"Stop!" Sicily's voice yelled, but it was too late, next thing Kyo knew she was sliding down a steep ditch. She let out her own scream as she joined Sicily on the ground. Kyo looked up, the ditch was probably about ten feet up and very steep. Kyo looked over at Sicily, her sister was hastily buttoning her pants back up.

"Are you alright?" Kyo asked her as she looked over Sicily to make sure there wasn't any serious damage.

"I'm fine, the shock really scared me is all," Sicily explained as she sheepishly ran her fingers through her bushy hair. "Junior!" Sicily quickly yelled up to the dragon. Both of them watched as Junior and Lola poke their heads carefully down to look at the two of them. "Do you- AH!" Sicily let out another ear piercing scream of terror Kyo could only watch as her sister was literally thrown up to the top of the ditch. She landed safely by Junior's paws. Kyo looked to see what had thrown her and was at a loss for words as she had her arms out in fear.

It was some sort of monster. The creature was red, all red, head to toe. On top of its head were two tiny black horns. It looked at her, it's pitch black eyes staring right in her eyes. "Your turn!"

"Wai-" Kyo tried to scream but suddenly the front of her shirt was balled up in this thing's fist, and in one quick toss she was thrown all the way to the top of the ditch. Landing on her side she quickly scrambled to her feet. "What?!" She screamed loudly as she frantically moved her arms about. Whatever the creature was jumped up towards them, it landed by Sicily who let out a shriek of terror and hid behind Junior. There was a brief moment of silence between everyone as they just looked at the creature. The creature gave a devilish giggle at all of them. Junior brought his nose down to sniff the odd creature.

"Ludwig helped you, yes, Ludwig did!" The creature joyously exclaimed as he gave a little dance. He quickly went back to squatting down and leaning on his knuckles.

"W-What is it?" Whispered Sicily to Junior in a hushed manor.

"I don't… know…" Junior admitted to her as he got another look at Ludwig. Lola got down on all fours and arched her back at the creature. This made her look like an actual rat.

"An Imp!" Lola exclaimed as her fur bristled. "Devilish Imps!"

Ludwig put his hand on his chest in mock hurt as he shifted his wait to his other hand. "Ludwig is hurt! Ludwig helped these two! Ludwig didn't have to!"

Junior blinked at this he seemed a little conflicted on what to say. Shuffling his paws awkwardly Junior straightened himself up looked at Ludwig and gave him a nod. "Yes, you did, thank you, Ludwig," Junior spoke slowly in a more confident manor.

"I think he's trying to sound like his father…" Lola whispered to Kyo as she climbed up Kyo's arm. "I don't trust that imp, imps are never to be trusted," She rattled her little teeth as she rested on Kyo's shoulder.

"I know a little about imps, they help the devil…" Kyo whispered back to the rat before crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't know what fantasy book you've been reading, but imps are really just horrible pranksters, they'll mess up anything if it means the imp gets a laugh out of it," Lola responded to Kyo's statement.

Ludwig gave a snort, making the two focus back towards him. The little imp started hopping about as he looked at Junior. "Ludwig thinks he should get some sort of payment for his help!" Ludwig decided almost instantly. "After all it was Ludwig's home you intruded on as well! Ludwig thinks you should give him something in return for both of those things!"

"Well, Ludwig, whatta you want?" Junior's childish dialect coming back as he tilted his head curiously at the imp.

"Junior, I don't think we should-" Sicily quickly spoke up, but she cut off by Ludwig, who was bouncing with glee.

"There are no humans to play pranks on around here! Ludwig wants to hop on your back and be taken to a village of some sort! Ludwig needs some better entertainment!" Ludwig started to enthusiastically jump up and down like a child on christmas day. Kyo looked at Sicily, her sister had her arms crossed in a nervous matter. Kyo felt apprehensive about letting this creature fly with them to a nearby village.

"You won't harm the humans there, right?" Junior asked him as he suddenly started to circle around Ludwig in a cautious manner. Probably to scope the imp out from all sides. Kyo rolled her eyes. So, Junior was going to allow this creature on him after all?

"Harm?! Ludwig has never done any harm to anybody! Just a few harmless pranks to the humans is all Ludwig wants!" Responded Ludwig loudly. His voice was so high pitched that it was starting to grate on Kyo's nerves a little.

"Junior, didn't we have a mission to do? Missing father and all that?" Sicily decided to step in and remind the dragon. It wasn't Junior that spoke up after that, it was Ludwig as he excitedly bounced up and down like a small child.

"Ludwig has not seen any big dragons around this part! Apart from you of course!" Ludwig continued to bounce for a few seconds before going back down on his haunches as he looked at them in a rather intense matter. "No big dragons here! Nope, nope! Ludwig would like to fly on giant dragon, please? Ludwig just needs new people to prank!"

Junior seemed to think about it. Both girls watched as Junior swept his tail just a small bit in thought. It caused a bit of dust of kick up around them before he gave a nod. "Okay, he did help us. Maybe we could take him to Yui's town-"

"Absolutely not!" Both Kyo and Sicily yelled to him quickly. Junior looked at them with a quizzical look before snorting a in response to them.

"Then where would you two like to drop him off then?" Junior asked the two of them with a snort. Lola's fur was raised up in protest, but she said nothing in response.

"..." Kyo slowly turned to Sicily with a bit of a smirk on her face. Sicily had the act same smirk on her face. "Are you thinkin'-" Kyo started.

"-That maybe?"

"-Daddy's farm?" They both finished at the same time. Both of them turned to Ludwig and smiled brightly at him.

"Hey, Ludwig, would you like to go to a town where the people deserve your pranks?" Sicily asked him. Ludwig perked up and happily bounced once more.

"Ludwig would love that! Ludwig loves to play pranks on that kind of people! Take Ludwig there! Take him!" Ludwig announced loudly for the world to hear as he happily jumped like a toddler at the fair.

Junior looked at everyone, he still looked so conflicted as he looked at the imp. "Just one thing. Are you sure my father isn't around this area?" He asked the Imp softly. Ludwig gave Junior a careful nod.

"Ludwig has seen no big dragon around these parts! No dragon!"

Junior gave a low sigh before nodding towards Ludwig, "Okay… if you say so…" He spoke in a slow and sad voice. Ludwig was none the wiser on the emotions that Junior had at that moment as he jumped up high in the air and landed safely on the dragon's back.

Junior gave a sad sigh in response as everyone got ready to go all the way back to the start. They were off after that. When they passed over the cave they would be resting in as normal. Kyo could see the boulder off in the distance. She noticed, that like earlier, behind that boulder seemed to be a sharp ditch of some sort. For whatever reason it stuck out greatly to Kyo as she looked at it the best she could. Junior flew on by it and it was out of her mind as they came to the farm their father owned Kyo looked down at the farm. It was odd seeing it from a birds eye view. It didn't look good. She could see the animals haven't been feed properly as the they were clearly running around looking for food, Kathrine looked horrible, her mane ratted and horrid. She looked like she was trying to leave her stable, but just couldn't. Kyo's lips pursed as she clenched her fist. "Ludwig?"

"Ye-e-es?"

"... Make daddy pay…" She spoke in a slow manner. Ludwig clapped his hands, and without waiting for Junior to land he jumped off of the dragon and landed on the roof of the house. They all watched for several seconds as the first thing the imp did was let Kathrine out of her stable. The horse instantly took off in search for food. The animals started to go crazy at the presence of the imp. Kyo looked at Sicily, both of them grinning as the animals made a lot of noise and tried to flee. The animals all ran in different directions, screeching and screaming, trying to get away from the imp that was now terrorizing their home. Ludwig was now in the chicken coop, they could only watch as he was throwing bedding out every which way like it was the funniest thing in the world. Once they saw a light turn on in the in the home, Junior turned and left.

They were back to the cave that they've become accustomed to over the past days.The sun just starting to rise. Getting off of Junior the twins looked over at Lola who was kicking her plane in anger."We never left square one! It's driving me crazy!" Lola raged loudly as she stomped against the ground to her plane. She then started to cry. "We're never going to find them!" She sobbed loudly as she rested against the wing of her plane.

"Lola… we'll find them…" Sicily leaned down to comfort the rat. Picking Lola up she hugged the rat close to her chest. "I'm sure we will."

"You… don't…. know … that!" Lola sobbed each word out in bitter sadness. "It's almost been two weeks and we can't find them!" Lola placed her tiny hands against her eyes as she sobbed out in sadness. "I don't know what to do, I don't know where to look!"

Whether it was because Lola was crying, or because he was feeling the same hopelessness as the rat, Kyo wouldn't know, but Junior started to cry as well. At first it was his chest hitching as it seemed he was trying to fight the tears, but then, it was just a literal explosion of tears from the dragon. In one loud heart wrenching sob Junior started to cry like the five year old he truly was. He collapsed to the ground and buried his face into his paws. Muffled sobs were all that could be heard inside the small cave from both Lola and Junior. Kyo could see on the ground near Junior's face were smoldering spots where his teardrops hit the ground. The tears made tiny little holes in the ground before sizzling out. Blubbering sobs left the dragon's mouth as he continued to cry.

"Junior… don't cry, we'll find them…" Kyo tried to console the dragon the best she could. Gently reaching around she patted his horns in a comforting manner. Still, the doubt was starting to become too much for her. Looking over at her twin, Sicily had the same look of doubt on her face. The two of them stared at one another both of them having a moment telepathy. Both of them thought the exact same thing.

Where they going to find the others? And if they did, where they going to find them alive?


	7. Chapter 7

Kyo silently walked over to her sister and tapped her shoulder. In a silent movement she pointed to the outside of the cave. Sicily nodded and gently set the sleeping Lola down. Lola didn't wake, she just rolled over to her side tiredly. Both of the twins walked out of the cave and basked in the sun. It was a little chilly out, that made Kyo thankful she had Ben's warmer jacket around her. Together they made their way to the town. They had to wait for Lola and Junior to literally cry themselves to sleep before going back to town. It was a sad thing to witness, but there was nothing either of them could do that would console the two so they had to wait. Well, now waiting time was over and they knew Aunt Yui was waiting for them. Kyo looked over at Sicily as they walked on that was she watched as Sicily seemed to be playing with some sort of necklace and stopped.

"Where'd you get that?" Kyo asked her twin as Sicily messed around with the strings. The necklace was a velvet purple baggy with golden strings.

"Found it when I went to town the first time," Sicily informed Kyo as she continued to play with the baggy by flipping it around on the strings. That suddenly reminded Kyo of the ring she found by the boulder. Digging through her pocket she pulled it out and showed it to Sicily.

"Funny, I found this when I went to town my first time- by that boulder," she added her last part quickly and Sicily had a frown on her face before giving Kyo a confused little smile.

"Odd, I found this by the boulder, and I didn't see a ring," Sicily slowly spoke as she examined the ring.

"You know, last night I looked at the boulder and it also has a ditch around it," Kyo spoke up as she continued walking forward. "I had no clue."

"Huh…" Sicily let out a curious little hum before walking with her sister. Kyo tossed the ring up in the air before catching it in her palm. Sicily looked at the baggy necklace before shrugging. "I guess you found something cooler than I did, I mean all this had in was some sort of silvery dust."

"Silvery dust?" Kyo asked her. Sicily nodded and opened the bag to show her sister. Sure enough there was silver colored dust in it. "Who collects dust? Odd…" Reaching a finger in she lightly tapped the dust. It was soft to the touch and was more like powder than dust. Drawing her finger back she just shrugged. "It's still better than the mushroom I stepped on on the way back from talking to Yui."

"Ew, mushrooms. Didn't Junior tell us that brownies eat mushrooms?" Sicily innocently asked.

"I think? It was a few days ago," Kyo shrugged in response. Sicily tapped her chin in thought as they continued to walk forward. The boulder in question just a little ways away now.

"I… think I want to look in that ditch!" Sicily exclaimed before darting forward and running straight for the boulder.

"Sicily!" Kyo yelled in concern before rushing after her sister. She watched as Sicily made it to the boulder before running behind it. Kyo was behind her sister every step of the way. Kyo watched as Sicily carefully slid down the ditch. "Wait!" Kyo stopped just at the edge of the ditch and looked down. "Can you get back up?" She peered down at her sister who seemed to be looking at something with great interest.

"Hey! Kyo! There's a cave down here!" Sicily called back in surprise. "It looked like there was some sort of cave in though!"

"Okay?! I don't care, get up here before you hurt yourself!" Kyo snapped in slight anger. 'What are you doing?...' She couldn't help but think in confusion as Sicily was now engulfed in the caved in cave.

"Hey, Kyo! Let me up!" Sicily tore herself away from the cave and started to climb up. Kyo brought her arm down and helped pull her sister up. Sicily didn't waste much time as she was now circling the boulder.

"Now what are you doing? Aunt Yui is waiting for us!" Kyo let out a puff of air as she was starting to grow impatient now. When she didn't get an answer right away, she rolled her eyes and followed her sister's steps just to watch and see what she was doing. Now back in front of the boulder, away from the ditch, Sicily started to feel around the grass. "What are you doing?" Kyo decided to try again. Sicily then looked at Kyo with a sudden intensity in her eyes.

"Where did you find the ring?" Sicily quickly asked her. Kyo had to think for a moment before rubbing her eyes.

"Over there, I think," She pointed to where she picked up the ring. At least to where she hoped she picked up the ring. Sicily, being ever so confusing, walked over to the spot and started to sift through the grass for something. "Why?"

"And when you said you stepped on the mushroom? Was it over here as well?"

"Why?"

"Just answer!"

"I don't know! Look for a squashed mushroom and you'll get your answer!" Kyo impatiently snapped in response to her sister. 'What is she doing?' Kyo thought in confusion before finally huffing at all as she crossed her arms.

"You're not being helpful!" Sicily huffed in response. There she was still sifting through the grass looking for something. Kyo finally just rolled her eyes before dismissing her sister.

"Whatever, I'm going to town, feel free to join me when you aren't acting crazy," Kyo could only respond before crossing her arms bitterly. Sicily didn't respond as she continued to shift through the grass. Kyo chuckled a little at her sister's weirdness before walking away.

Sicily felt her fingers get wet from the morning dew still stuck on the grass. 'Don't prove me wrong… c'mon…' She thought softly as she got up and moved over hoping to find what she was looking for. Seeing something out of the corner of her eye, she saw something that helped her greatly. The smashed mushroom Kyo must have stepped on meaning-

"I'm too far back!" She yelped in surprise before moving up a couple of feet. Looking through the grass finally she found just what she was looking for. A hole in the ground. So this is either a snake hole or just what she was looking for. "Hello!" She called loudly into the hole. Listening she smiled when she heard her voice echo down below. Cupping her hands around her mouth she sucked in a deep breath before letting out a very loud- "Hello!" She practically screamed. Putting her ear down to the hole she waited a few heart beats before getting a bit of a surprise.

"H-Hello?" A scared voice asked her back. Sicily's eyes widened. 'I… was right?! Hang on Sicily… this might not be them, maybe a cave dweller or something,' She thought to herself as she sat there stunned. Straightening herself up ahs tried to look down in the hole, but it was too small for her to make out anything.

"Hello? Is there someone down there?" She asked softly this time around. Placing both of her hands on her knees she listened carefully.

"Thank heavens! We need help! There was a cave in! We've been stuck down here for two weeks! No food! No water!"

'No way! It can't be! It just can't be!' Sicily felt her eyes go wider than ever before as her hands shook greatly. 'Were they really only a mile away this whole time?!' She needed to get Kyo, she needed to Junior! "Are you Benjamin Greenbloom?" Was the only question she could fathom to say at that moment.

"No."

"Then you're Firedrake?"

"... Do I know you?"

"No, but I know your son, he's here too! Hang on okay! We're going to help all three of you!" She quickly got to her feet. She had to get Junior! She got ready to sprint towards the cave, but stopped. Kyo, and Aunt Yui! She needed them as well! Standing there for a few seconds Sicily jumped up and down and waved her hands by her side as she was debating on what to do. Her mind was running rampant. Finally, realizing that standing there wasn't helping anybody in this situation she decided she needed Kyo. Turning she ran as fast as she could to the town. There was nothing but a trail of dust behind her as she needed to get to her sister and Aunt Yui, the more people the help the better.

Getting to the town, out of breath, and still in a panic, she rushed to Yui's house. She was in luck, Kyo was outside along with Aunt Yui, however, beside Aunt Yui seemed to be a family of some sort. She didn't care about them, so she didn't bother looking too much at them. She had to word what she needed to carefully.

"Kyo!" She screamed running full speed to her sister. Kyo turned and perked at Sicily's presence.

"Sicily, this is the Greenblooms!" Kyo quickly yelled to her sister as she pointed to family. What luck!

"Great! Perfect! Listen-"

There was a loud 'Whoop whoop!' Behind Sicily causing her to jump up and turn around.

"Girls! Get behind me!" Yui grabbed both of them and literally forced them behind her. There was a cop car coming their way putting everything to a halt. Sicily needed to tell them!

"You! You're Ben's father!" She pointed to the eldest looking man.

"How-"

"There was a-"

"Well! Isn't this just joyus!"

Sicily's blood ran cold when Pastor Larry spoke causing her to slowly turn. The pastor emerged from the cop car along with Larry's own brother, the only sheriff of their small town. Sicily grabbed on to Kyo and she did the same thing.

"You aren't touching them, Lawrence!" Yui snarled as she protected the twins and kept them behind her.

"Yui, Yui, Yui-" Pastor Larry tsked his tongue at her. "-Last I checked you didn't have custody of them. They belong with their father and that is in fact law, Roger if you'd please."

"No!" Sicily yelled as she was the first one to be grabbed. "I found them! Aunt Yui! I found them!" Sicily tried as she fight Roger off. "You were right about cave in's! You were right!" She cried as loudly as she could.

"Let go of her!" Kyo yelled as she actually ran full speed ahead and rammed her shoulder into Roger's gut. Roger let out a loud gasp letting go of Sicily as he almost collapsed to the ground. Sicily reached into her pocket and pulled out the baggy necklace. Running to Barnabas she placed it in his hand.

"The boulder! There's a boulder not far from here! They're there-" Sicily cried out as her hair was harshly grabbed and she was yanked back. Pastor Larry had her now and he wasn't letting go.

"Now, this running away has gone on for far too long!"

"That is enough!" Yui stomped her foot to the ground in a snarl. "You cannot do this Lawrence! They are only children!" Sicily was turned around and watched as her sister was in Roger's own clutches. Her arm was twisted behind her back forcing her to stay put as she grimaced in pain.

"Oh, Yui, you may have managed to get away from me, but there is nothing you can do now. If you know what's good for you, and for these girls, stay out of it," Larry snarled. Sicily wanted nothing more than to give Larry a good kick in the leg, or higher, but she could hardly move with the grip he had on her hair. Larry pushed Sicily forward ungracefully. Sicily couldn't do anything she couldn't even talk as she was thrown into the back of the cop car with her sister. The door was shut behind them and there was no way to open it from the inside.

"I found them!" Sicily sobbed loudly as she buried her face in her hands. "We're so close!"

"What are you talking about!?" Kyo demanded her own voice breaking as tears started to fall down her face.

"Kyo! I knew something was up around the boulder when you told me you found that ring and the mushroom! Remember the cave in we found behind the boulder? They were in that cave! Firedrake, Ben, and Sorrel, they were so close to us this whole time!" Sicily cried as she grabbed her sister by her shirt and gave her a bit of a shake. "Hopefully Barnabas knows what I was trying to convey… What?" Sicily finally looked up through the windshield as she saw Yui on the ground holding her face while Pastor Larry stood over her. Barnabas had dropped to the ground to help Yui up to her feet.

Kyo was seething in rage at this point as she was breathing heavier and kept her hands clutched to her sides as she gritted her teeth. Whatever was being said between Barnabas and Larry was quickly dismissed as Larry and Roger made their way to the to cop car. They both got in the car. Larry smirked at the girls through the rearview mirror as he then gave them both a smile. "Now girls, don't be that way, we have a wedding tonight!" Larry told them. Kyo suddenly lunged up probably ready to attack him, but Sicily pushed her back down.

"I'm not marrying you!" She roared in rage as she fought against Sicily. "Neither of us are, you murder!" She snarled making sure that the last word was drenched in venom. To Sicily's surprise Larry turned around and slapped Kyo in the mouth as hard as he could.

"You monster!" Sicily yelled at him as Kyo held on to her now bleeding shedded her jacket and gently dapped at Kyo's mouth.

"I will not have you two talk to me like that! You two will behave today and I will make you behave if I have to!" Larry snapped at them. There was silence as the car was now moving away from the town. However, Sicily was quick to spot someone walking quickly down the way. A blonde hair, blue eyed, long legged, beauty was practically jogging in her cowgirl boots going the same way as them.

"Oh, my… That woman needs to be more modest with her clothing," Pastor Larry observed as he watched her in the mirror. Sicily had to hold back her gags when she watched Larry lick his lips in a perverted manor.

"Alice… what are you doing?" Sicily whispered under her breath.

"Ms. Kyoto, tell me, where did you get that hideous jacket?" Larry asked her. Sicily realized that Kyo was still wearing Ben's jacket. The jacket was worn by the looks of it, plus now dirty with her being all over with it on. In fact, both of them looked filthy from the past week of running around with Junior. Kyo didn't give the pastor an answer as she just crossed her arms in a bitter fashion. Her lip had stopped bleeding but it was now busted as she was constantly running her tongue over the wound. It wasn't ten minutes and they were back in the town. Taking in a deep breath Sicily decided to try and run when the door opened. The pastor made his way to her door and opened it. She tried to sprint, but the pastor was one step ahead of her as he grabbed her around her waist which stopped her from getting away. "Now, now! We can't have a runaway bride! Roger, you got the other one?" Larry asked his brother. Kyo was in fact in Roger's arms much like Sicily was in Pastor Larry's. Kyo, who was wearing boots, was actually trying to give Roger a good kick in return.

"Ah! Mr. Genesis! Here are your girls!" Roger acknowledged as their father walked out of the truck. Sicily felt her blood turn to ice as their father came saunting up to them. His look was cold and calculating as he stared at each of them. Then with no warning Sicily felt fire on her cheek as he slapped her. The slap caused her to yelp out in pain. She then heard another slap followed by a yelp from Kyo. Sicily dared to look up at the truck. It was clear that Ludwig had some fun last night as the white rusted truck had hellish looking scratch marks up and down the paint and the windshield was completely missing. The tires looked brand new signally that the imp had most likely let the air out.

"You think you two could come back last night and let all my animals out without consequence!" Their father bitterly demanded as he looked at the two of them. So he was blaming what Ludwig did on them, what else was new?

"Well, it's not like you were taking care of them anyway…" Kyo grumbled under her breath, it didn't go unnoticed.

"What was that!" He demanded with with a simple angry grunt. Sicily expected her sister to go quiet, but to her surprise Kyo snapped her fiery gaze up at their father and in a louder tone yelled-

"I said It's not like you were taking care of them anyway, you bastard!" Nothing but silence as with no other warning Kyo used the pointed end of her boot to kick their father as hard as she could in the shin. Their father let out a loud yell as he clutched his leg clearly not expecting that. Sicily saw this opportunity to yell back at him-

"And this is for mom!" With her own rage she proceeded to kick him in the other shin.

"Little brats!" He seethed as he now reeled his arm back almost like he was going to back hand one of them, but the pastor actually intervened.

"Now! I don't need my little brides to be all bruised up before the ceremony," Pastor Larry told him softly. Sicily felt anger rise in her belly as she was pulled away from her father. Kyo just glared at him as they were both brought inside the church. The heavy wooden doors slammed shut behind them as they both tried to fight to get away, but Pastor Larry and Roger were both stronger than they looked.

"Pastor Larry, I must ask that you reconsider this!" Came a voice from behind them. Sicily knew that voice. It was Jimmy, the shopkeeper. The wooden doors shut again as Jimmy came running up to them. "They are only children! You can't abuse your powers like this!" Jimmy yelled to the pastor in a frantic manner. "I fear something bad will come from this!"

"James, James…" Larry shook his head as he practically tossed Sicily into Roger. Roger, being quick, had one of Sicily's arms in one hand and Kyo's arm in the other. Pastor Larry put his hands on James's shoulders before cupping his face. "James, nothing bad will come from this wedding, I assure you, these two are fourteen years olds they are of age."

"I know… but-" Jimmy tried to argue again.

Larry snapped his fingers at Roger. "Put the girls in the back room for now, Roger, I have to talk some sense into James here."

Sicily wanted nothing more than to fight Roger with her sister, but the taser clipped to Roger's waist told her it wasn't worth it. The backroom to the church was open and both girls were tossed inside. The door was immediately shut stopping the girls from trying anything. Kyo let out a loud scream as she grabbed the nearest thing, a table lamp, and threw it against the wall. Sicily looked around the room. She's never been back here before. It was clearly Larry's own personal study with a small desk that was cleaned. There was a love seat against the wall, and a now busted lamp on the ground, and a tiny wardrobe most likely where he puts his pastor robes.

"I don't want to marry him, I don't want to marry him, I won't marry him!" Kyo screamed as she grabbed her long ponytail and started tugging on her bushy hair. Sicily gave a sigh as she sat on the couch, she then narrowed her eyes as she noticed an interesting design on the wall. Getting up she walked over to where the design was and placed her fingers on it. She only touched the wall. Her eyes widened with hope as she turned around.

"Kyo! A window!" She gasped happily. She didn't notice it straight away as it was above the couch with curtains that matched the wall in color covering most of the sunlight. Except for a small sliver peeking through. Kyo jumped on the couch without hesitation and pulled the curtain back. The window was small, too small for either of them to fit through. Kyo let out a dejected sigh before letting herself fall on the loveseat.

"That's it… we're going to marry him… there's no way out of here…" She whimpered before burying her face in her hands. "Roger's going to stop us at every turn… even if we do try and run, unless we can get to Junior before we're caught…" She sighed before sniffling. Sicily crouched down before putting her hands on her sister's shoulders in comfort.

"At least we found Firedrake before this all happened. I may have not conveyed my message clearly to the Greenblooms, but I know they'll understand what I was trying to say and save them," She softly told Kyo as she hugged her. "At least we did that much." Placing her head against Kyo's neck the two sat there embraced for a good minute or so. That was until the wardrobe wiggled causing both of them to jump from the couch. Kyo grabbed onto Sicily's arms in fear as the huddled to the farthest wall.

"What was that?" Kyo whispered frightened as she clutched on to Sicily tighter. The wardrobe wiggled violently again. Sicily wrapped her arms around Kyo for support as she shook like a leaf in a storm. That was when the doors open and out somersaulted a familiar impish figure. Ludwig stood up on his two legs and let out a loud-

"Ta-dah! Ludwig got you! He did!" Ludwig bounced back down on his haunches so he was squatting once again. "Ludwig was hoping to scare that annoying man! But he didn't show so he scared you two in return-oof!" Sicily ran and hugged Ludwig with all of her might. "Ludwig is confused by this!" Ludwig yelled as she practically squeezed the imp the death.

"Oh! Ludwig!" Sicily smiled as she rocked side to side. "How did you get in here?" She asked the imp as she finally let him go.

"Ludwig crawled through the window!" Ludwig pointed to the tiny window. "Ludwig can fit anywhere! Big or small!" Ludwig then decided to prove his point by opening the window and starting to crawl out. Sicily stood there horrified as the imp's bones cracked and snapped out of place so he could get outside. The bones snapped back in place like it was nothing once he was outside. "Ta-dah!" he bowed towards them once again. Sicily looked at Kyo she knew that look anywhere, the wheels and Kyo's head were turning an an idea formed. "Ludwig is curious as to why you two are here and not with your dragon friend?" Ludwig innocently asked them. Sicily went to respond, but suddenly Kyo literally pushed her away from the imp in one quick moment.

"Ludwig how would you like to pull the biggest prank ever on this town?" Kyo asked him quickly to change the subject. It was like she asked him if he wanted a million dollars. He let out a happy gasp and his black eyes got a lively spark behind them.

"Would I ever?! What does Ludwig have to do!"

"Lean down, and I'll tell you…" Kyo smirked widely as she seemed to get her own Impish expression flash across her face. Ludwig leaned down so they were close to one another. Kyo leaned in and whispered to the imp.

Kyo hated the feeling of her hair on her shoulders, she hated the make-up the pastor's wife put on her, she hated the stupid dress she was forced to wear, she hated that Ben's jacket was literally snatched out of her grip and thrown into the trashcan, and she hated every last bit of it. Looking at her sister, for once the two of them truly looked identical with both of them having their hair down the only thing truly keeping them from looking identical was the different hair color. "What if he doesn't get here in time?" Sicily asked her softly. "I mean-"

"He'll get here, if he doesn't get here on time it doesn't matter, he'll be here and that's all that matters," She told Sicily as she reached over and grabbed her sister's hand. Their puffy white dresses seemed to glow as the day was starting to set. "We gave them plenty of time anyway…" She whispered. The door to the study opened and the tired wife to pastor Larry gave them both a nod.

"It's time, good luck," She tiredly sighed as she moved out of the way allowing them to walk past her. There was a silence as Kyo nudged her sister forward. Sicily gulped but made the first move her legs were wobbly. Thank goodness they were wearing flats as Kyo's legs were wobbly as well making her certain if she were wearing heels she would have fallen. Kyo still made sure to hold her head high as she saw the whole town cram packed inside the father got a front row seat. Everyone was dressed up for the occasion, even her father had on a suit. She noticed Jimmy in the second pew behind her dad, he had bruises on his face showing that the Pastor really wanted him silenced for speaking out. Focusing forward she looked at Pastor. He was still in his normal pastor robes proving that he really doesn't take off his robes for any occasion. Standing next to Sicily the two of them stood rigid. The pastor opened his mouth ready to begin his speech for the wedding. He didn't get a single word out when the doors busted open.

"Wait! This wedding can't happen!" Alice came running in like she was in a hurry. Kyo smiled at her boldly as she clutched her bouquet of white roses tighter in her hand. Alice suddenly tripped over the rug leading to them. If it was part of the act, Kyo never knew, as Alice jumped back up quickly. "A… A dragon is outside! He came all the way from the depths of hell to stop this wedding!" She cried loudly. "It cannot continue!"

Alice was met with giggles and laughter from the adults. Even the pastor himself couldn't stop from laughing at her. "Little darling, a dragon cannot leave hell try as it might it's just not possible! Go back to Yui and put some clothes on dear, you'll lead me into temptation." The pastor shooed her away. Alice made eye contact with Kyo. Kyo gave her a wink in response, she nodded back.

"Fine!... I warned you…" Alice snapped loud enough for the whole church to hear. "I warned you all!" She added for extra dramatics before running out of the church. Kyo couldn't stop the smile that spread on her face as she looked at Sicily. Sicily smiled back widely as they now stood proud and tall.

The pastor only laughed as he shook his balding head from side to side. "Oh, a dragon outside, how cute, Yui, very cute," He continued to chuckle before clearing his throat to bring the attention back on himself. "Now that we all got a good laugh out of that, why don't we start this wedding off proper-eh?"

The ground was shaking now. Something large and heavy was coming their way. Kyo looked at the glass of water on the table as the water rippled more violently with each shake. Some people stood up from the pews to investigate just what was causing the ground to shake. Others didn't move as they seemed to be too scared to do so. Kyo couldn't stop the smile on her face as she just held on to Sicily's hand. The shakes became more and more unstable and violent with each passing second. Crosses started to fall off of the wall, candlesticks fell from their holders as it just seemed to get so unstable that people were even getting down on their knees to either pray or to just hide. Then… it stopped. The people slowly stood up uneasily fearful. They thought it was over, but it wasn't, not by a long shot.

"Just a little earthquake!" Larry laughed awkwardly trying to ease the tension in the church. "No need to fear-"

The doors were through off of their hinges as Junior came storming in. Several people screamed and backed off to the sides of the small church for cover as Junior stomped in. His big form just large enough to fit inside the church. He moved several pews out of his way as he stomped all the way up to Pastor Larry. On his back was Ludwig, the little imp clapping with glee at the horrified faces of the people around him. Junior stretched his long neck down so he was face to face with Larry. Kyo grabbed Sicily's arm and dropped her bouquet onto the ground 'accidently' stomping on it. "... Yui! What kind of… t-trick is this?!" Larry demanded to Junior boldly.

"These girls-" Junior growled before snorting into Larry's face. Junior made sure his hot breath hit the pastor boldly showing him that this was no trick. "-Are...Mine!" Junior didn't scream the last part, no, he roared it. He roared so loud that the whole church shook from the sheer volume from his voice. Anything still on the walls fell to the ground. Larry fell to the ground clutching his chest in pure fright as he looked ready to have a heart attack.

Ludwig laughed and laughed as he clapped his hands like a child. "Charles Genesis! Oh, Charles Genesis! There's a lovely spot in my masters pit of hell for you! Yes! A lovely spot! You'll be my master's footstool! Yes!" Ludwig jumped from Junior's back and ran to the first set of people he saw. They all screamed in terror at him. "All of you are welcome to my master!" Ludwig got to terrorizing the people. Kyo smiled brighter than she ever had as she watched the mayhem before her.

"Charles Genesis is over there!" Sicily took pride and pointing out her father to Ludwig. Ludwig hopped all the way over to their screaming father. At that the twins climbed on Junior's back and off the dragon went leaving Ludwig to his mayhem. Alice, who was outside waiting ran and saddled onto the moving Junior like he was a horse. Expertly she was behind Kyo. The moon guided them as Junior soared through the sky.

"Did you get your father out of the cave?" Sicily asked Junior as soon as the town was behind them. Kyo took her veil off of her head and threw it to the wind.

"No! I left! Dad understood! Right now everyone is trying to get the rocks out of the way! I promised I'd only be gone for a short while so we have to be fast!" Junior yelled over the winds.

"Sicily! How did you figure it out!" questioned Alice from the back.

"I think I got it all pieced together actually! When Kyo pointed out the tire tracks in the mud the other day I think that's why they left in such a hurry that Ben left his jacket behind! It must have still been morning so they went to the nearest cave, the one hidden by the boulder. How they found it I don't know, but I know that the cave in must have happened shortly after they entered it. So Ben, or Sorrel, must have been tossing stuff up through the whole in the cave to catch people's attention! Probably his father's! But both me and Kyo just took the items not thinking! Then once Kyo mentioned finding a ring and I found the pouch I started to piece everything together!" Sicily called to Alice as a gust of wind took her own veil away from her head.

"That's amazing, Sicily!" Kyo couldn't help but yell at her sister happily.

"Seriously! I never would have put that together!" Alice smiled back as she suddenly grabbed on to Kyo's shoulders as Junior took a dive down towards the ditch. Alice's eyes went wide as he showed no signs of slowing down. "Oh lord!" She practically choked Kyo with her grip tightening around the poor girl's neck. Junior landed on the ground skidding to a halt as he did so. Kyo could see flashlights by the ditch waving around as the people were working on moving the rocks away from the cave. All three of the girls jumped off of his back, Kyo and Sicily hitching their long dresses up as they ran over to the ditch and jumped down.

"Girls!" Yui yelled being the first to embrace them. "Junior got to you two in time I take it?" She grinned at them.

"Yes! Now don't let these girly dresses fool you! We have rocks to move!" Kyo ran over to the Greenblooms and immediately helped Barnabas push a large boulder out of the way.

Hours upon hours passed as they pushed rocks away from the cave. It would have been almost impossible without the help of the Greenblooms and Junior. It was hard work, harder than anything either of the twins had to do at the farm. Lola, being a rat, could only stand and watch it all unfold with worried eyes. More and more rocks were moved, it seemed like it would never end. Until suddenly the cave gave a low rumble causing everyone to stop.

"Okay… Okay, this is where the tricky part is!" Firedrake spoke up from the otherside for the first time since the twins got there. "Junior, are you there?" He asked out.

"Yes, dad!" Junior called back obediently.

"Good! Now, I'm going to hold the cave up with my back, Junior! I need you to push the remaining rocks out of the way, when I say 'wait' I need you to stop! That's giving Ben and Sorrel enough time to get out of here! Both of them are very weak and are leaning on one another so be patient okay, son?" Firedrake spoke very slowly to Junior making sure that Junior soaked up every word. Junior seemed nervous but slowly nodded.

"Yes, dad," Junior gulped.

"Now, rocks are going to be flying most likely so all the humans need to be away from the cave! I mean it! When Sorrel and Ben get out I want you to put them on top of ditch away from when this cave does collapse-"

"You aren't still going to be in it, are you?" Junior frightfully asked as his eyes went wide with fear.

"Son, just do as I ask and everything is going to be alright, I promise."

Kyo felt her arm being grabbed making her turn to see that everyone had already escaped to the top of the ditch. It was Alice that grabbed her telling her to get up there with them. Climbing up to the top she sat there and watched intently as Junior put his giant paw on the little remaining rocks and started to slowly dig. As Firedrake had said with Junior diging away at the mound rocks started to fly every where. Some almost bouncing up and hitting them in the face. Junior pushed more rocks out of the way so much so that Kyo couldn't fathom just how many where still more he dug, the more dangerous it got as the cave was rumbling now. She could hear Firedrake straining to keep the cave up. It seemed like it was never going to end until-

"Wait!" Firedrake yelled and Junior paused. From the angle Kyo was sitting from she couldn't see the opening of the cave. Still with everyone she watched with baited breath and wide eyes. Heatbeats passed as there was nothing happening. All that could be heard was the rumbling of the cave threatening to collapse any moment. Firedrake could be heard still being, literally, under pressure by the cave. Finally, out came two figures. Like Firedrake had mentioned they both looked weak as they had to use one another for support. Junior was quick he swooped them up in his mouth and laid them both down by the rest of the crowd.

"Benjamin! Sorrel!" Vita yelled rushing to the two of them. Neither of them really reacted all that well. The lack of food and water messing with them as they seemed to have a hard time staying awake.

"Okay! Junior! Dig the rest out!" Firedrake's mighty roar brought everyone back to the cave. Kyo had to tear herself away from watching Vita try to get Ben some water to see the rest of what was happening. Junior seem hesitant about his father's instructions, but it only lasted for a moment before he started digging away at the rocks in a fast and furious pace. The cave wasn't going to last long, but it just when it seemed it was going to collapse on top of Firedrake the large dragon suddenly darted out of the cave. It sounded like a bomb went off as the cave collapsed down below, everyone had to cover their ears. All was silent after that. No night owls hooting, no crickets chirping, nothing just stone cold silence. Finally, it was Junior that made the first noise. A happy cry. Junior darted forward and rubbed against Firedrake's neck. "Dad!" He happily cried. Firedrake let out a soft cooing noise before leaning down and rubbing his cheek against Juniors. Kyo felt Sicily grab on to her hand gently Kyo held back onto Sicily's hand as they let Junior have this moment with his father.

Hearing a soft coughing coming from behind her Kyo turned her head to see Ben coughing up some water as it went down the wrong pipe by the looks of it. Guinevere was busy with Sorrel trying to give her some water as well. They were alive and Kyo felt a rush of joy at that.

"Tell me… which one of you found out where we were?" Firedrake asked as he walked over to the twins. Junior may have been big, but not as big as his father. Firedrake leaned his long neck down so he was now face to face with both of the twins. Kyo gently scooted to the side allowing Sicily to take the spotlight, However; Sicily suddenly grabbed her arm and yanked her back.

"Yes, I found you, but I couldn't have done it without my twin," Sicily told Firedrake softly. Kyo shakily stood up as her legs were starting to fall asleep. Sicily stood as well and both of them gazed up at Firedrake.

"Thank you, both of you," Firedrake whispered softly to them. He gave both girls an affectionate nuzzle. Junior jumped up from the ditch and happily ran over to Ben and Sorrel, both were still very shaky as they were now standing up the best they could. Yui walked over to Firedrake tentatively she kept backing up every other step. Finally she allowed herself one large bold step forward so she was now face to face with this dragon. "Who are you?" He asked her in a deep but gentle voice.

"I am Yui Morri, I am their aunt," She explained to him. Yui looked over her shoulder to Alice who was keeping a good fifteen feet away from the two dragons. "Over there is my assistant Alice Mcathy-"

That got Alice's legs moving as she was next to Yui in less than a second clearly excited by what Yui had just said. "Assistant!? Thank you!" With no warning Alice hugged Yui as tightly as possible as she practically jumped up and down. Kyo and Sicily both laughed a little. Sicily started to wipe her dirty hands on her ruined wedding dress. Both of their dresses were ripped and dirty from the dirty work they've been doing it didn't bother either of them. Once Alice let go of Yui, Yui walked over to the twins and hugged them both between her.

Ben was a bit more steady on his feet as he walked over to the twins. He still looked tired and hungry, but that didn't stop him from speaking in a low hoarse voice. "Thank you, all of you, we probably couldn't have made it out alive without any of you."

"Oh, your jacket…" Kyo frowned as she wringed a ruffle from her dress in her hands. "I'm sorry, but the pastor threw it in the trash."

"Don't worry about it, I can get another jacket. I'm alive and that's all I care about right now," Ben reassured her softly. Kyo then watched as Ben turned his attention to Lola, she hadn't even noticed the rat sitting there looking guilty. "Lola… what's the matter?" Ben softly asked her as he extended his hand allowing the rat to crawl onto his palm.

"I'm so sorry!" The rat whimpered softly.

"As you should be!" Sorrel suddenly spoke up from the back. Kyo watched in wonder as the weakly looking brownie proceeded to stuff her face full of grass. "We almost died, Lola!"

"Sorrel!" Ben tsked at her in a stern matter. "You know as well as I do that it's not Lola's fault this happened!"

"That's right, Sorrel!" Junior finally spoke up as he scolded the brownie. "Lola had no idea this was going to happen!" Sorrel's fur bristled up in rage, but she kept her thoughts quiet, for now anyway. Junior's mood did a complete turnaround as he now happily bounced around the girls and rubbed his face against both of them. "Thank you, both of you very much! Now you get to see the rim of hea- ow!" Junior whined as suddenly something struck his face. Sorrel seemed to have thrown something at him.

"Keep your mouth quiet, Junior! They may have helped us this far, but we don't need them knowing about that yet." Sorrel huffed bitterly before lifting her head up high. "Besides, who said anything about allowing them with us?"

"Junior, I am with Sorrel on this one, maybe we should rest up and discuss this topic later," Ben spoke as he sleepily stretched his arms over his head. "I need food…"

"I don't know what you're complaining about! There's food everywhere!" Sorrel huffed as she started to pick leaves off of bushes and eating them at a fast rate.

"Come on we'll get you some…" Barnabas ushered Ben away towards the town. Ben didn't fight as he shuffled away in a weak matter. The other Greenblooms waved goodbye to the others before following left the girls with the dragons. Yui gave a low sigh as she patted both girls on the shoulders.

"Well, girls, it seems this adventure is over for the night," Yui whispered softly to each of them as she kissed the top of Kyo's head then the top of Sicily's head before smiling.

"Aunt Yui… what's going to happen now?" Sicily questioned as she gently moved some of her hair behind her ear. Yui seemed to think for a moment before sighing softly.

"You two are coming home with me I know that much. I'll see about having your father sign adoption papers later down the road. It won't be easy, but maybe Ludwig and Junior changed his mind," Yui told them both.

"Do you guys need more help in changing this guy's mind?" Firedrake spoke up causing them all to look at him. Kyo and Sicily both shared a knowing look as they smiled at one another.

"Mr. Firedrake, I think you are exactly what we need to change our father's mind.

One whole week passed for the small town that Pastor Larry had under his thumb. He had told his people that the twins were to be the devil's brides. He explained to everyone that he would be changing his gospel and wished everyone to pray for the twins safe return. Charles Genesis was no fool, this was all Yui's doing he could tell. How that woman made a realistic looking dragon baffled him, but the little red guy? Probably just an actor. The dragon didn't even breath fire, it was all fake. Still, he figured the day would come when Yui came knocking on his door. Charles didn't open the door all the way as he just looked at her.

"Sign!" Yui demanded with a curl on her lips as she showed him the adoption forms.

"Yui, I will never give my girls to you, I don't know how you did it during the wedding with that fake dragon, and you know what? I don't care. Give the girls back, they belong to me and me alone!" He gnashed his teeth at her. Yui suddenly laughed as she put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd say that," Yui smiled before forcing the door open all the way revealing two snarling dragons. The bigger one was on her right and the smaller one on her left. It almost caused Charles to back up before he remembered it was just a trick.

"Yui, you're a moron if you think I'm falling for that trick again. These dragon's don't even breath fir-" Before he could finish his sentence the smaller dragon opened his mouth and a blue stream of fire left his mouth before crashing behind Charles just barely missing the man. With his whole body shaking like jello. Charles turned to face the now smoldering wall. Yui, showing no sympathy, simply shoved the papers in his face again.

"Sign!" She ordered once again. Charles didn't hesitate this time. Taking the pen out of her hand he signed where she asked him to. "-and here," He signed where she pointed. "-and here." Once he done, Yui folded the paper up and smiled at him. "Thank you, Mr. Genesis. You are never allowed to see your children again, you also signed a restraining order. Have a nice day. Oh, hello Ludwig!" Yui waved happily behind Charles before walking away with the dragons.

"Ludwig?" Charles breathed out softly.

"Hello~ Charles Genesis!" Suddenly the little red demon was on his couch eating his ham. "Ludwig likes it here! Ludwig decided this is his new home from now on!" The imp declared between mouthfuls of ham. Charles stood there for a few seconds before finally just bailing out of his own home screaming like a madman.

Kyoto felt bad as Junior honestly tried to bring her and her sister to where the rest of the dragons lived, but it was vetoed by Ben, Sorrel, Firedrake, and Yui.

"Junior, these girls can't live with dragons, they need to be raised properly," Yui told Junior as he whimpered. Bless his heart he really didn't want to leave them behind.

"But… I can't leave my new friends behind! Dragons live halfway across the world! It's so far!" Junior whined loudly as he pouted.

"Junior, I know how you feel, Ben lives in the UK and that's far, but it's for the best. Listen, you can still see them later down the road, but they cannot come with us," Firedrake told Junior softly as he nudged his son affectionately.

"Junior, we'll be fine living here from now on, it'll be alright," Sicily cooed as she hugged Junior's snout close to her chest. "Humans shouldn't live with dragons anyway,"

"But what if that pastor tries to take you away again? What will you do then?" Junior asked in concern.

"He can't do a thing to us now that Yui is our guardian. If he does try something, then we can get the real cops to do something," Kyo finally spoke up as she hugged his neck.

"Junior? How about this, during the summer months, you can come back here with Lola and visit them for two months-" Firedrake started, but Lola, who was waiting by her plane, spoke up quickly.

"Oh sure, get me involved without asking me first! I see how you are, Firedrake!" Lola huffed bitterly as she crossed her arms.

"Would you rather he attempt to get here on his own without help?" Firedake asked her with a chuckle. Lola's fur bristled at that.

"You're asking for a lost child with that logic, Firedrake!"

"Then, I rest my case."

Junior lowered his ears before nuzzling both of the twins in affectionately. "When is summer again?"

"In about seven months," Sicily answered him softly.

"That's so far!"

"I know, sweetheart! I know! But it's for the best, you can't live with us, and we can't live with you!" Sicily continued to coo as she drew her finger up and down his snout. Junior sniffled before giving a soft whine in response.

"I'm glad I helped you two out when you crashed your truck…" He whimpered.

"I'm glad we got to help you find your father and his riders, but it's time for you to go now, sweetie," Sicily whispered to him before kissing his snout.

"We'll be waiting to see you again, don't forget about us, Junior," Kyo spoke to him before kissing his snout as well. Junior had misty eyes now.

"Goodbye…" He whispered back before looking at his father and sighing.

"Don't worry, son, seven months with just fly by!" Firedrake winked at Junior as he joked.

"And that was your worse one by far," Ben spoke up from Firedrake's back. "I guess dad jokes resign with every father!" He laughed at Firedrake.

"My jokes are funny, and you know it, Benjamin."

With that, the twins stood back with Yui as they waved goodbye to the dragons. Both Firedrake and Junior spread their mighty wings before taking off into the air. Lola waved goodbye as well before taking off The girls all watched the dragons, and rat were nothing but specks in the sky. Yui gave a sigh as she wrapped her arms around her nieces. Things changed drastically in the last three weeks, things changed for the better and now with her nieces to take care of she knew that things were only going to get better from here.


End file.
